El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-24
Childish Wishes Consulted In
Selling Toys To Santa Claus
Ten Thousand Toy Factories Compete for the Annual
Demand.

TT HE road which toys travel from
the shop to Santa Claus pack is
long one. 1t usually begins at
a great toy exposition, where all the
toy buyers of the world gather to look
over the toys and to make selections
Tor their respective countries. One of
these expositions, perhaps the largest
one in the world, is held in the city of
Lefpsic, Germany. Here, fully 10000
toymaking establishments bring their
wares and exhibit them to the repre-
sentatives of Santa Claus, who journey
from every country and every cline
Each exhibitor tries to display his
wares to the best advantage, and it is
safe to say that. nowhere else in the
world may one behold such a marvellous
aggregation of playthings.
The men who constitute the army of
toy buyers are without exception men
with big hearts and a thorough under
standing Of child nature They must
be able to forecast the desires OF the
children of the world before they can
De successful toy buyers. 1t is a well
recognized fact that Santa Claus has a
species of intuition which enables him
to tell just what each child would like
TO have, and this makes the desires of
children the final verdict as to what
kinds of toys will find a ready sale
nc CA 10 QlldDl6 10 dppIO8l-
mately forecast the demands of the
children will find himself overstOcked
with unstable toys. and will there
lore be failure in the business.
Cater to Childish Wishes.
The buyers who go to the big Euro
pean expositions to buy toys are men
who buy in vast quantities. Those from
the United States represent big i'm
porting houses in New York and other
cities After having made a thorough
study Of what proved popular with the
boys and girls of the country last year.
the buyer tries to look into their little
hearts and inform himself as to any
changes in their wishes. Then he is
ready for business. He must be as care
full to buy toys destined to prove pop
ular, as he must be careful not to buy
too many toys that are unpopular; for
il he found, when he came back to the
United States. that a certain toy was a
good seller and that his house was not
adequately supplied to meet the demand.
he will be a failure as a toy buyer.
When the toys are brought to New
York, sometimes almost by the ship
load, they are sent to a big warehouse.
reasonable number of each kind of
toy is selected and carried TO the big
wholesale toy establishments. In the
toy buying season the importers en-
tlreIy oVerrun the hotels OF the trade
centers. and hundreds Of large sample
rooms are converted into toy empori
ums The importers aim to have their
supply of toys on hand by February,
so that one Christmas is scarcely pass
ed before preparations for another are
begun Buyers from all over the Unit
ed States flock to these toy emporiums
and make their selections for the De-
cember trade. Every device known in
the world of craftsmanship, is employed
to make these toy emporium exhibits
attractive to buyers Toy railroads are
operated on schedules that are perfect
ly wrought out. and every kind of toy
is displayed in the most attractive man
ner possible.
How Dealers Encourage Sales.
The toys are then shipped to the re- /
tail toy dealers OF the country and they !
begin, about the middle Of November, to !
play their roles as aids TO Santa Claus. !
The boys and girls of the city come in !
and look over the stock of toys. and /
alert ears are kept open to hear their /
comments and to convey them to old |
Santa. Some toy dealers are more in !
terested in furthering the work Of San
ia than others. One dealer has gone so