Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1914-12-11

HJ{lAAIL ~
THESE latter days, when every
. !. !. !.
M branch of human activity has been
~ svstematized and we are brought
MkN whether we like it or not. under the
p7SE%1 smell of scientific management of the
IS BS41J smallest business, what is more natu-
~ w85SS raj than that we should now be OBJ
n MsssA ged TO accept the scientific manage
IESSSyE ment of Christmas?
wv Christmas as a science How our
A qraudfathers would have gasped at
pT7 the idea! In their time Christmas
was a spontaneous holiday. Christ
H.. .ro thew hung their stockings on the mantel-
Ia.o IN full confidence that Santa Claus could
sY1 Nc way through a six-inch stovepipe. Then
a,o vas the Christmas tree, with grandfather
Hsribute the gifts and strong force of unces
nd .upts to maintain peace among the cousins.
And there was skating in the afternoon with tho
hdcsst sort OF melee to give the finishing touch
to the day.
There was no need of science there; it would,
n fct have spelled the whole thing. But now
hs sDirit of Christmas has changed. We still
hare our Christmas trees, subject to the regula-
ions of the fire department. but we are really
s,vps Of our Christmas shopping list. From
thanksgiving to Christmas most of us live in an
atmosphere of deepening gloom. We have con-
hpalv hanging over that dreadful problem
n what would be the best thing to give Soand-
"a md when we have made selection our hearts
sink at the awful thought that perhaps, What's
tsname may give the same thing.
mis- 10 relieve this situation as much as posi-
Me that science has been called in to our aid. or
course even science has not yet been able TO
wayent two people from sending the same gift
10 one person. But 1t has been able to display
unusual gifts and larger number Of them for
our consideration so that it will be easier to Sc
leC a present which we may be quite sure anoth-
person would not think of. And the greatest
advantage of scientific Christmas shopping is the
Increased speed with which the ordeal may be
gone through
There are two things which have brought about
This result The first is the establishment of ex-
ADs Of gifts for children in the schools of the
large cities of the country. And the second is
be scientific arrangement of gifts for sale In the
shops and department stores. On one floor we
have a department devoted entirely to toys and
other gifts for children; in another place presents
PARTICULARLY suited to men; and elsewhere Sec
ions 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 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 II
10 save the children from being deluged at
The Christmas season with inartistic unhygenic
and useless gifts. Esthetic and hSgienic are
words that loom IN larger in the vocabulary or
The present than that Of the past.
And so although Noah's ark will remain Noahs
ark to the end of the world, no twentieth century
Wugster whose family attends one Of these ex-
6ts will feel constrained to suck the paint off
Shem Ham or Japhet For 10 and behold. they
we entirely innocent of the familiar red and
seen and blue of that unsantary century We
have left behind. The sons of the patriarch and
al the animals that went in two by two are OF
reasonably hygienic white wood.
By the same token, dolls will be dolls. For here
again the scientific Christmas has produced a
eaange to a more esthetic and hygienic product.
1Stead Of the big rag doll whose features nave
peen Kissed into obliteration by several genera
Cons of Children there is a stockinet successor,
equally unbeatable. far more beautiful and ab'
NNlely impervious to washing.
For older children one finds marvellous all
'ood dolls, again embodying the three important
'HueS, They are unbreakable, washable and ar
Nuc Their naturalness is. evident at glance.
ana the visitor is not surprised to learn that they
are reproductions of American children modelled
% American artists
ana yet the thought rises. will modern Dorothys
.lo Nancys love these charming creations one
p" more than their mothers and grandmothers
V'eu the china and wax dollies who preceded
~e"' There was Henrietta, gorgeous Partisan,
Wy may remember. whose pink and white lowell
", S Is still happy memory. Poor Henrietta!
ivy u'ed the victim of bad small brother VINO
eu he effect of midsummer heat upon her
d, Ne" complexion Then there Juliet, she
Iea brown hair That combed and warm
ale0e complexion, and a host of others VINO
r "a'e had untold attractions But you must
g.., Wem out of your mind in this scientific age
.. @ uair harbors horrible microbes and complex
~ " not digest well in small stomachs
,s, mere are other suggestions which are the
mo =. VI The Practically of our time. Housekeep
rsn.. furnishings, for example, such as tea sets In
ioo,te cooking utensils in granite and metal, an
and % BOARD and iron which can really be used
,ool" u, IRON eookstove upon which things can be
h, IN the matter of musical toys science
a ,e sSne even further The pianos for the child
haM are marvellous instruments. Alas TOT
byl ' M OF the tnky toy of generation gone
cS,,. neSe nave from two to three octaves OF the
eoncar' scale and are accurately tuned to
l8ev 80 such marvels cost money and are not
q yuh