The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-12-12

~YK7Y~ N THESE latter days, when every
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branch of human activity has been
[lAI MM systematized and we are brought,
|)pH9NAf whether we like it or not, under the
,&a&S&k. spell of scientific management of the
NHRyqI smallest business, what is more natu-
S$ #H<NS raj than that we should now be OBJ
NSAkG15@ liged to accept the scientific manage
NNrS1 ment of Christmas?
Christmas as a SCIENCE! How our
~ grandfathers would have gasped at
L-SNAt the idea! In their time Christmas
was a spontaneous holiday. Christ
mas eve they hung their stockings on the mantel-
piece in fun confidence that Santa Claus could
find his way through a six-inch s~toyepipe. Then
there was the Christmas tree, with a grandfather
to distribute the gifts and a strong force Of uncles
and aunts to maintain peace among the cousins.
And there was skating in the afternoon with the
choicest sort of melee to give the finishing touch
to the day.
There was no need of science there; it would,
IN fact, have spoiled the whole thing. But now
the spirit of Christmas has changed. We still
have our Christmas trees, subject to the regula-
tons of the fire department, but we are really
slaves of our Christmas shopping list. From
Thanksgiving to Christmas most of us live in an
atmosphere of deepening gloom. We have con-
tinually hanging over us that dreadful problem
of what would be the best thing to give So-and-
so, and when we have made a selection our hearts
sink at the awful thought that, perhaps, What's
his-name may give the same thing.
1t is to relieve this situation as much as posi-
BILE that science has been called in to our aid. OF
course, even science has not yet been able to
prevent two people from sending the same GIT
TO one person.. But it has been able to display
unusual gifts and a larger number Of them Tor
our consideration, so that it will be easier to Sc
'ect a present which we may be quite sure anoth-
II person would not think of. And the greatest
advantage of scientific Christmas shopping is the
increased speed with which the ordeal may be
zone through.
There are two things which have brought about
This result. The first is the establishment OF ex-
hibits of gifts for children in the schools OF the
large cities of the country. And the second is
he scientific arrangement of gifts for sale In the
hops and department stores. On one floor we
have a department devoted entirely to toys and
,ther gifts for children; in another place presents
particularly suited to men; and elsewhere Sec
lions for women and boys and girls. 1t is all the
direct result of the card index and the filing cabi-
net. You look under the particular heading you
Wish and you find displayed before you a vast
quantity Of suitable gifts to choose from.
The object of the school exhibits is not so much
70 save mothers labor, worthy object though that
might be. Nor is it to display the latest and
most ingenious products of the toy market. Child
Welfare is the primary purpose, and there we
have another side Of the scientific Christmas. IL
g to save the children from being deluged at
he Christmas season with inartistic, unhygienic
md useless gifts. Esthetic and hygienic are
vords that loom up larger in the vocabulary OF
he present than that of the past.
And so. although Noah's ark will remain Noahs
,rk to the end of the world, no twentieth century
.oungster whose family attends one OF these ex-
eib;ts will feel constrained to suck the paint off
ghem. Ham or Japhet. For, 10 and behold, they
are entirely innocent of the familiar red and
yreen and blue of that unsanitary century wo
Ave left behind. The sons of the patriarch and
all the animals that went in two by two" are OF
-easonably hygienic white WOOD.
BY the same token, dolls will be dolls. For here
,gain the scientific Christmas has produced a
change to a more esthetic and hygienic product.
instead of the big rag doll, whose features have
been kissed into obliteration by several genera
ions of children, there is a stockinet successor
equally unbreakable. far more beautiful. and ao'
~7olutely impervious to washing.
For older children one finds marvellous all
wood dolls, again embodying the three important
virtues. They are unbreakable, washable and ar
tistic. Their naturalness is evident at a glance,
and the visitor is not surprised to learn that they
are reproductions of American children modelled
by American artists.
And vet. the thought rises, will modern Dorothys
and Nancys love these charming creations one
whit more than their mothers and g"randmothers
loved the china and wax dollies who preceded
them? There was Henrietta, a gorgeous Partisan,
you may remember, whose pink and white lowell
ness is still a happy memory. Poor Henrietta!
She died the victim of a bad small brother who
tried the effect OI uluouunhlci q uPOh hOA
waxen complexion. Then there was Juliet, she
of real brown hair that combed and a warm
brunette complexion, and a host of others who
may have had untold attractions. But you must
put them out of vow ~Ntad in this scientific age.
Real hair harbors horrible microbes and complex
ions do not digest we'll in small stomachs.
Then there are other suggestions which are the
result of the practically of our time. Housekeep-
ing furnishings, for example, such as tea sets In
pewter, cooking utensils in granite and metal, an
ironing board and iron which can really be used.
and an iron cookstove upon which things can be
cooked. In the matter of musical toys, science
has gone even further. The pianos for the child
of today are marvellous instruments. Alas for
the prestige of the tinkly toy Of a generation gone
by! These have from two to three octaves of the
chromatic scale and are accurately tuned ito
concert pitch"
But all such marves cost money and are not
likely to avail much for the household where
nVe or six must live on a small income. So 1t is
good to discover a case containing a number OF
toys at a minimum price. Not one exceeds ten