This puppet may be dressed according to the reader’s fancy; its head is not fastened to the body, but is strung on a thread attached to the neck. When the showman has made the doll dance for a short time, he pulls the head from the body by means of a thread fastened to it, and makes the headless puppet dance on as if nothing had happened.
THE MILKWOMAN.
A puppet, dressed like a woman with a yoke of milkcans, makes its appearance and performs a country jig. Before the dance is concluded a little white doll jumps out of each can. The milkwoman tries to catch the dolls, but they fly out of sight. The trick is easily managed; to the head of each little doll is fastened a thread, which the showman pulls at the proper time. The yoke may be cut out of a piece of soft deal, and the cans may be made of pasteboard covered with tinfoil.
POSTAGE STAMP COLLECTING, OR PHILATELY.
Our young readers may vainly turn over the pages of any existing dictionary to find the scientific alias of the heading of this article. We trust the omission will be soon supplied, Philately, or Postage Stamp Collecting, having reached the dignity of a recognised science.
The word is the English rendering of the French term Philatélie, bestowed by a distinguished Parisian amateur in substitution for what was called timbromania, the latter portion of which word caused an unpleasant association of ideas, and gave rise to many a sneer from the wiseacres who had not sense enough to understand the real utility of the pastime. It is derived from the Greek φίλος and ὰτέλεια, the nearest equivalent traceable in classical lore to a modern postage stamp.