The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-05

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 XN NE of the most interesting places kSJ in New York just now is cer-
 tain four-story shop filled from top to bottom with toys only Since the annual toy exposition at this place opened early in the month, men and women have been among the most fascinated spec tators, and small folk, carefully guarded by nursemaids, reinforced in at least one case by private detective, have gone in and out looking as excited as well bred child is ever allowed to look in these days.
 "The beautiful side of the toy business is this: No longer is money spent on toys thrown away" the veteran toy dealer said, enthusiasm radiating from every feature. Modern toys are now valu- able aid to the education of any child, furnishing, as they do, wonderful object lessons of the worlds greatest inventions, industries and arts and aiding, as they must, in developing any particular bent child may have.
 What is more, they bring parents and children closer together than the old fashioned toys. A young mother told me not long ago that she spent as much timc playing with the toys given to her chil- dren as the children did, the toys were so fascinating and so much more inter esting than anything she had ever owned when a youngster."
 ! The dealers eyes as he spoke were on some airships in the mechanical toy class. The things were the very latest novelty in toydom. Where the small boy is con- l cerned-the small girl, too, for that mat ! ter-it is the electric toy which carries all before 1t. Even parents succumb to it's | Vaccinations.
 Third rail electric railroads have been added of late in order to meet the demand | for novelties. One entiley new model is subway express lighted by electricity and equipped with guards
 Most of these outfits teach how to oper- 1 ate switches, how to shut off the power | how to shunt cars from one track to an- other. Grand Central stations and less | important stations flanking the tracks are | fitted out with electric lights. | Small dry motors, to which may be att tached all sorts of figures, single or in | groups are among the most eagerly | bought Christmas gifts. There is rosy ! battery goes to work meat chopping; a 1 chef who takes to mixing; workmen who | shovel, saw, hammer; band of four mu- sicians in Tyrolean costume lingering in- struments industriously; a quartet of | dancers-all of which and many more are among the mechanical toys designed to | go with one of these dry motors Ocean steamers and battle ships some 1 54 inches long, correct in every particular are shown this year operated by elec- tricity by steam, by clockwork. There are electric runabouts operated by 1a-horse power, suitable in size for child up to 10 or 12 years. Racing models of motor cars, the latest designs in covered and uncov- cred automobiles, with lamps and every thing complete, and worked automatically, are among the toys foremost in the affec- tlons of youngsters too small to be trusted with the real thing in motors
 Doll houses of all sizes up to the inn posing three-story, six-room variety, in cluding bathroom and servants bedroom, and furnished after the mode, are lighted from top to bottom with electricity. One of these, costing $13O, has separate but ton for every room
 A theatre stage about three feet high and nearly as wide has a perfect system of lighting installed-footlights, toplights, sidelights. There is drop curtain and scenery for producing three plays-'The Snow White Princess" "Cinderella' and
 Sleeping Beauty
 There are stables, garages, coach
 houses fitted outside and inside with l electric lights and all sorts of animals