The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1896-12-24

! THE FATAL SEASON.
Toys, Goodies and Gayety.
| Selected
And now, when the landscape takes
on an ashen, chilly air, and the last
copper leaf has fallen from the mossy
twig, we scent the fragrant cheer OF
Christmas in the near future. For the
days that must come becween now and
the blossoming of the ever-festal ami
versary bear about the same relation to
1t that long garden-walk does to the
castle to which it leads. On each side
OF this path are lovely flowers, set out
in an artistic fashion we'll calculated to
please the refined sense OF all apprecia-
tive and cultured people. It is vista
OF JOY that is a guarantee of the char
acter OF the castle and OF the man who
occupies it. 1t tells you that his pic
lures and cigars are of the highest col
or of excellence, and that his furniture
is not of the gorgeous, plush-covered,
lnstallment kind. It likewise assures
you that he would not wear russet shoes
in full dress, nor pour bis granulated
tobacco into the flame by attempting to
light his pipe over the lamp chimney
Even so is the airy avenue that leads
to the rosy day which ranks among
ordinary days as a proud. prancing pal
frey would rank in chaste coterie oi
superannuated car-horses. And along
this avenue what lovely things we see
to fill us with sweet and rosy dreams of
anticipation. To the small boy the
toy-store windows are lighthouses of rare
exotics, for the toys bloom like flowers
that to him are perennial, and never
fade even long after the paint has been
knocked off. The rose OF his world
may fade, like the day upon which
there is no school, but the spots remain
on the toy leopard after they have van
ished, and the stripes are to him as
lasting as those of the flag he loves In
the candies he sees beds of spicy carna-
tions and blushing tulips that he longs
to Gull and fashion into epicurean bou-
quets, to wear with pride and satisfac-
Ton upon his inner Toy. And he
pauses before these windows ul never
ending enl,bartncnt, as over the pages
.! a fairy tale that neye. becomes tire
some or loses its subtle, mystic charm
He looks upon the dolls, whether con
structed of wax Or paper. as real person
agcs. and most important ones, too and
even at the dry-goods window he looks
upon the stockings with !: tender wlst-
fulness, until he regards them not as
articles of wearing-apparel, but as arti-
cles made for the express purpose of
being suspended by the open fireplace
against the coming of Santa Claus.
And then there are the pretty holiday
books that lie open on the counters
like summer landscapes-with their
wealth of illustrations, and appeal to
people who do not care for books III
July, any more than they care for the
seashore and its murmurous pillows in
the dead of winter. when the winds
howl and pile the snow-drifts before
your front door until you have literally
to pry yourself out to start upon your
daily pilgrimage in the trembling kiss
of dawn. But perhaps the finest Christ
mas book is the one you can balance on
the right side at this merry season of
bills. It is book of fine reading, to
which every man can furnish fitting
from the festive negative
OF his mind. These pictures, OF course
have great deal OF Christmas feeling
and color in them, and they set forth
the suspended market goose as a rich
and glowing cameo of neverending JOY,
while the turkey becomes an object
worthy of shining as facade upon the
grandest castle of ancient Athens or OF
modern Morristown. And when he
sees the live turkey trying to be happy
in a crate, and looking very much like
a six-foot man endeayoring to rest on a
canvas back cot with his feet dangling g
over one end and his head over the 9th
er, be listens to the red-whlskered bird
that seems to be saying, "Mery Christ
mas Merry Christmas ~
And every dealer in the town, no
matter what line he may be in, is car
ried away and overjoyed by the COM
ing festival that he scents from afar,
that he feels certain that his wares are
the proper ones to select for a gift. The
barber advises you to take home a bot
tie of hair restorer, which Is useless
alike to the man who has Or who hasn't
hair. The barber booms 1t as a proper
gift with the enthusiasm displayed by
the stakeholder and the oil-stove man
and it is really surprising that the same