“Fifty years ago no tobacconist would think of opening a store without a figure. Now the men in the trade think that to put an Indian out is to waste money.
“When I started business, in 1861, my stock cost me $30, and I had a figure that cost $40. I had to have the sign, though it cost more money than the stock inside. Since then I have been 46 years in business on one (Calvert) street,” said Mr. Caspari.
In 1864 he hired a man from New York to make figures for him. The first figure was a small one, representing an Indian squaw. This was sold in Baltimore in 1865 and brought $15.
These figures were made out of old masts. Each one was handmade with saw, knife, chisel and such tools of the trade. The sculptor would work on five or six different ones in turn and take, on an average, about a week’s time to finish a figure.
Mr. Caspari has sold figures in many other towns and cities.
In the old days, customers coming in and wanting a figure would choose some new design, and so “Girls of the Period” were next in vogue. These were fanciful, flashy figures and very attractive.
“Four of a Kind”
“Pipitone, on Charles street, near Baltimore, years ago bought one of these fancy figures,” said Mr. Caspari, “and soon after a storm blew it to Baltimore street, damaging it badly. He brought it back and had it repaired and painted and about two months after that a horse ran away and the wagon caught the figure and broke it to pieces.”