Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-16
.HRIsTMAs shopping was never so
fascinating and at the same time
SO bewitching as this year.

The Los Angeles stores are filled from
basement to attic with gifts that are
calculated to delight the most fastidi-
Gus. For the girl, be she school girl,
debutante or any one of the numerous
other types of girls, there are dainty
things innumerable, and for the moth
er or father brother or cousin, to say
nothing of husband and lover, there
is wonderful choice.
The little tots are provided for as
they never have been before and, judg-
/ Ing by the displays in the toy depart
ments of the local stores, Santa Claus
and his whole force must have been
working overtime. With the beginning
of the school holidays yesterday the
| children crowded the stores and Santa
| Claus met them in many places and
distributed candy and Christmas ad-
vice in great quantities.
| All the stores are crowded every day
with good natured merrymakers and
already the Christmas spirit abounds
on every side.
The ChlIdren's Holiday Spirit
The child may have grown so world
ly-wise a little being as to eschew
fairies and goblins, but he has not for
gotten his toys. Indeed, he loves his
toys more, and every year the Christ
|
are being pushed to the wall. So much
of the real Christmas spirit has been
lost to them that they are falling back
on the children to keep alive the holi-
day spirit. And yet in spite of that,
some blue-spectacled old dame, with no
children, penchant for objecting, and
a Scrooge-like regard for Christmas,
would start a crusade to put old st.
| Nicholas under the hammer and spoil
one of the happiest illusions of child
hood-the belief in Santa Claus. AS
though anything or anybody could take
the place, in the hearts of the children,
of the dear, genial, little old fellow,
who has been driving his reindeer with
the old sleighful of toys and scram-
bling down chimneys every twenty
fourth of December for more years
than any of his little subjects could
count!
| The shops are ablaze with signs of
the approaching holidays, and from
now on until the last tiny stocking has
been hung and the last little head
popped under cover to wait for morn
ing, children and grown people alike
will hold high carnival among the toys,
where far and away is the largest and
most interesting of any Of the attrac-
tions One could scarcely name an OBJ
ject that is not reproduced in minia-
ture and the first idea that comes to
one, once he is fairly inside this land
of toys, is that small boy or girl may
be just anything he chooses without
4 waiting to grow up. Does he want tC
be a postman? There are postman's
i sets, a suit of blue canvas, hat, a nice
leather-looking post bag. mail box, ev--
erything, even down to bunch of real
letters. Perhaps he would rather be
| a policeman or a fireman, or big,
ferce-looking Indian, with tomahawk,
war paint and feathers, or baseball
pitcher or soldier. All the parapher-
MALTA for each, complete to the minut-
est detail are to be had, nicely packed
| in a large white box. For girls, too,
there are similar provisions, nurses ap-
parel, including a little black cotton
dress, a white apron, and severe
| little cap, a set of medicine BOTTLES,
with wee spoon, measuring glass, and
all-everything necessary for dolly's
sick room; waitress sets, much the
same, except for the apron and cap,
which are nice and frilly, instead OF
severe looking; laundress' outfits, tubs,
washboards, a gingham apron, clothes
line and even a tiny cake of soap.
Aids to Domesticity
How this generation of girls can es-
cape being domestic when they grow
up is inconceivable unless it is that,
naVlnR ndQ every IUlll6 III lhC AAOiiAS-
making line from their youth up they
are surfeited by the time they have
homes of their own; but almost any of
them would be willing to take chances
when they see what has been prepared
for them in the way of doll houses
real houses, ranging in size from that
of cracker box designed for paper or
very small dolls, to those as large as
an ordinary sized room. Some of these
aff Cfn
castles, Italian villas, or French
chateau, with wonderful winding stair
cases and still more wonderful bal
comics with soft lights pouring forth
from real gas jets or electric llght
bulbs; and real paper flowers growing
in profusion on the terraces surround
ing them. Each little room is as per-
feet in it's appointments as the most
artistic house furnisher could desire.
The windows and doors open and shut,
there is running water in the tanks,
and the whole, house and furniture, Is
collapsible folding into minimum
space when not in use. Boys will be
more interested in stable built on the
same plan, or a. butchers shop with a
tempting array of pasteboard meats
and everything quite realistic, even to
the sawdust-covered floor and pair of
scales marked Guaranteed correct
weight"
The doll population has increased to
abnormal proportions. An innovation Is
shown III dolls for boys. How some OF
them would scorn the idea-until they
see them! They are very unique, these
dolls, and not like anything we have
had before. They are large, larger
than the average boy Of or z, and they
are made of rubber or else of paste
board covered with cloth, and they
come in various representations. For
example, there is a burly looking po-
liceman with big nose and an ugly
looking club; then there is pretty boy
dressed in a sailor suit, nice, refined
looking doll-boy such as would make
his owner feel that he had real play
mate and not a doll at all. Any or
all of these giant dolls, as they are
called, will stand alone, and some Of
them, by means of balance ball in
side, viii jump, tumble, turn somer-
saults and go through generally the
antics peculiar to the genus boy.
Dolls for Boys
For very small boys there are some
clown dolls that are really funny In
striped trousers and blouses. and con-