Christmas Spending

The first line of this article caught my attention. Ten dollars is what folks estimated would be spent on Christmas gifts in the year 1897. The article goes on to inform today's reader what toys and where they came from. Very helpful information for the historical fiction writer.

HOW AND WHERE THEY ARE MADE.
Each of the twelve million families of the United States is estimated to spend ten dollars,for Christmas. This is a total of $120,000,000, or a sum sufficient, in dollar bills, to extend four times as far as from New York to San Francisco. This money is expended in Christmas trees and their decorations, in evergreen wreaths, in toys, dolls and games, in books, ornaments and curios from almost every country in the world. Wherever machinery can be used this country leads in the manufacture of these knicknacks. Where hand labor is necessary, the United States cannot compete with other lands. Thus the United States makes mechanical toys, Christmas tree candles, confectionery, Chinese lanterns, miniature furniture, and other wares, which are produced by machinery. It imports from Germany its dolls' bodies and little figures, from France its fancy boxes and dolls' heads.
The prettiest, as well as the most expensive, dolls come from Paris. The Germans are very skilful in making good imitations, at less cost, and they reproduce nearly all the French models. There are a few English dolls, but even here the German copies and undersells the original. In this way he has driven both the French and the English out of the American market. China and Japan make dolls as strong and handsome as the European, but very much cheaper. As a result, the Eastern goods are found now in every part of the Union, and their sales are so large as to interfere with those of German manufactured goods. In rubber dolls, America excels, as also in rubber rattles, dolls' rubber boots, doll house mats, rubber animals and rubber balls, labor-saving machinery,, doing all the work more cheaply than is done by European methods. Nearly all the specimens found in the stores are strong, durable, and well adapted to hard usage.
Dolls' houses were formerly imported, or made to order by carpenters. They are now turned out in large numbers by machinery in America, and are made so cheaply that they have almost put an end to other sources of supply. Thin boards are arranged in piles, and a steam saw cuts them into as many fragments as there are pieces to be used. A few tacks will then put the house together. It is painted, papered, and furnished according to schedule. A man and a few girls can make more houses this way than can twenty carpenters by hand.
Dolls' dresses are made of all materials. The finer kinds are cut from remnants of goods in milliners' work shops or dry goods stores. Dolls' parasols, boots, fans, and jewelrycome from France, Germany, and Japan. Some of them, especially fine silk parasols and carved fans, are very expensive. The Japanese make wonderful little fans and jewelry out of tortoise shell. The Chinese do similar work with ivory and white wood. Large quantities of small artificial flowers in either cloth or paper are made in the French quarter of New York. Here, also, are fashioned many of the bonnets and dresses worn by many of the so-called French dolls.
Boys' toys are American. Boxes of tools, locomotives, balls, bats, drums, sleighs, bicycles, toy boats, bows and arrows, skates, hoops and tops are usually home-made. The factories of these articles are situated in New York and suburbs, and in the neighboring state of Connecticut. Boxes of soldiers and magnetic figures are of German origin. Tennis and cricket sets are either American or English. Fine wooden toys and carved figures are generally from Germany, Switzerland, or Austria, although much excellent work is done in the larger cities of the United States. The industry was started by the Swiss, who developed it into a very profitable business. In this country its growth was very slow at first, but since the introduction of technical schools it has been rapid. Most of the cheap musical toys are from Germany; but of late American manufacturers have begun to surpass their foreign competitors. The toy piano is now superior to anything imported, as are also the metallophones and xylphones, banjos, autoharps, and tamborines.
Toy furniture is all American, while toy crockery is nearly all European. Toy weapons are chiefly foreign. Toy boxes, glove boxes, jewel boxes, and cigar cases come from everywhere. Toy statues and statuettes come from Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan, and China. The figures of Santa Claus are from North Germany, as are also those of funny old men and women, animals, and groups. Toy ducks and chickens, fighting cocks and geese, frogs and toads, spiders and butterflies are from Yokohama or Kobe. They are pretty and ingenious, and at the same time extremely low priced. The fish horn, trumpet, fife, putty blower, and bean thrower are all American.
Source: The School Journal ©1897