Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-03-20
CHILDREN AND TOYS.
PLAYTHINGs MAY BE TOO TRUE
TO NATURE.
CHILDREN DO NOT CARE FOR MA
TURALIsTIc TOYS THE HORSE,
DOLL, AND SUCH THINGS.

err of rice, she conducted me to the nurs-
cry, where, as she said, her happiest days.
had been spent. As to the happiest days,
did not believe in them bit ard told
her so. Personally | look back upon
my nursery experience with more horror
than delight. II bulked huge with ghosts,
mysteries Of closed doors, portentous
wailings Until the clock chimed MD
night / was subject to the powers of
darkness. After that no specter could
have convinced me of its reality.
There was a vast locker in the nursery
in which Audrey had first acquired her
sense of -humor, and from this she pro-
duced an endless variety OF discarded
toys. All were more or less damaged,
many more were inchoate Jumps, from
which, after a careful examination, there
beamed forth some hint of their original
condition. Audrey sat in the midst OF
piled confusion, with an air of surrepti-
tious happiness. II was as though she
said. This is what want to do all my
life" She Rugged in her arms what
conjectured to have once represented
hippopotamus. | yentured to say that
II had a harassed and disturbed appear
ancc.
But 1t isn't hippo at ALL" she cried.
Guess again.
II give it up" | said.
"Why, it's horsep' I shook my head.
my dear girl, your memory must be
at fault. That was never horse"
"Why. it's horse now" she said affec-
tionately.
"Well. IL it's horse to you, suppose
II is horse" | said.
That's just it, she cried. "That's ex-
actly what / was saying to you yester-
day"
/ remembered the discussion. Audrey
had been inveghing against modern toys,
and | had taken the opposite view. She
had asserted that children did not care
for naturalistic toys; they left nothing to
the Imagination. a crude representation
of an animal was much dearer TO them
than an accurate model. They respected
the elephant which was just like the real
ones they had seen and which wagged its
head so realistically, but they did not love
1t. They didn't want to take Ii to bed
with them. 1t was the same, she said,
with dolls. The beautiful creature dress
ed up in Sunday clothes never touched
their hearts: all their affection was Law
ished upon some tatterdemalion object
over which they could laugh and cry
without any sense of incongruity. 1t was
the same, she asserted. with picture
books: everything was too accurate.
But" | said, would you have them
grow up with the wrong models before
them?"
did it do any harm to your sense of
form to have an impossible wooden horse
to play with? or course 1t didn't. You
knew the horse was wrong. You could
compare II with proper horse by just
looking out OF the window, but the thing
with a body like thick rolling pin left
something to your Imagination"
you're very reactionary young per-
son." | said. ''Our modern cult of the
child has always seemed TO me beautiful
ly right"
80 ii is in most ways, but not in the
matter OF toys. It's just like this: When
people go to buy toys-grown up people,
| mean-they don't look at them from the
child's point of view. They see an artistic
piece of modelling. and it appeals to them;
therefore they buy 1t. Now, that's all
wrong"
"a must admit that" said I. you've
almost convinced me-"
At that point our conversation had
been interrupted by the youngest brother,
who always manages to tell me in some
roundabout way what he particularly
wants for a Christmas present. He be-
gan to talk about books out of Difference
to my connection with the writing trade.
He didn't want a book, it appeared;
partly. | suspect, because he fondly
imagines ! can get any book for moth
ing But there was a new cricket hand
book with all about bats in it. He could
borrow the handbook from Smithson
major By the way. had he told me
that his bat had split clean up the blade?
1--WE shall have to give him bat,
suppose" Audrey had said. TITS a pity
they're so expensive"
Well, as | watched Audrey sitting
among that amazing collection of dilapi-
dated toys | became more and more con-
WINGED that she was right AT any rate.
the child in her was awake again, and
she even fell into some of the baby talk
which years before had been addressed
to the contents of the locker. She bonn
barded me with beasts. If her aim had
been little less infrm, | might have
suffered severely. As it was, | escaped
with wool stuffed zebra in the eye.
"No toy should be given to a young
child" she said, which it can't fling
about"
Lay down a few more rules" said,
warding off kangaroo.
mo toy should be too beautiful"
Not even for girlsT
Least of all for girls she said.
though she didn't mean it.
"Well. go on"
"No toy should be directly educational.
1t makes a child think that it's being i'm
posed upon"
1t was apparently to enforce this
statement that the zebra was launched
at my head.
I'm SO sorry" said Audrey. did it
hurt? 2"
''No toy" l replied severely, should
be hurled at a living target even by q
child like ou."-Pall Mall Gazette.