Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1907-11-28
ONLY FOUR WEEKS AWAY
Santa Claus Will Soon Make
Glad Many Hearts.

Four weeks from Wednesday will
be Christmas. 1t seems hardly
possible but according to the calendar
it is true. And it is being proven by
the advance guard of Christmas
shoppers. many of whom have already
picked out their chosen articles for
their friends Christmas gift.
Santa Claus has not arrived in the
city yet, but he has sent his supplies
ahead, and already the children are
being entertained with stories of how
he and his reindeerS are running a
swift race from his home over banks
of snow, in an imaginary land, on a
straight path to Grand Rapids.
One thing is certain, and that is
that the children's toys were never so
elaborate and so perfect as those
which will be included in the Christ
mas opening showing within a few
days. There are automatic toys repre-
senting almost everything imaginable
in animate action. The Teddy bear
is to retain his popularity in the pre-
sence of all the cleverly executed ami
mails that have come to question his
right as the king of toys. Shaggy
dogs and woolly sheep, for instance,
who last year went around on wheels,
have advanced this year to the stage
of walking. They take the most leis-
ure and precise steps, and their am
bling gait, to the accompaniment or a
bark or bleat makes a close repre-
sentation of their prototypes.
There is one big danger these toys
have to combat. And that is the
small boy with big bump of curiosity,
He can never be expected to sit
placidly watching the stately step
pings of his menagerie of animals
without proceeding to inquire, in a
practical way, into the makeup of the
machinery inside. 1t will not likely
satisfy him to know that a certain
key, pressed against the animals
stomach, and wound and wound until
the spring is tight, prepares the nec-
! essary power for the subsequent antics
of that animal. He will want to
know why and how, and his thirst for
knowledge may mean something ser
ious for the anatomical makeup of his
animal family. And that same in
quisitiveness may lead him to inquire
into mechanical secrets that hold the
key to the march certain wax nurse
maid with upholstered perambulator
and china baby is making around the
room for sisters delight,
But there are some of the new toys
that furnish incentive for activity on
the part OF the children. Among
these are whole villages or small cities.
The foundations are made Of what
looks like big stretch of green grass,
and at certain parts there are certain
marks where certain building should
be erected. The buildings and people
are all safely laid away I'M a convenient
box, and when they have all been set
| Ill place IilC ioOho INV a
real metropolis in miniature.
Something else of this character is
of especial interest to the very small
tots. 1t is miniature woods. First
there is the ground, dotted with holes.
Then there are the trees and flowers
to be planted in these holes, and a
colony of tin people to peer at each
other through the trees.
But the advance Christmas shop
ping is by no means limited to the toy
departments. The new things in art
and fancy work, all the attractive
neckwear novelties in feather boas
and muffs, handsome new lace hand
kerchiefs, jewelry, furs, holiday books
and stationery and other lines are al
ready being looked over by the early
shopper. All the stores have their ad
vance Christmas goods in, and more
are arriving every day.