The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-27
AMERICAN TOY MAKERS ARE COMING INTO
 THEIR OWN, SAY BIRMINGHAM MERCHANTS
Ninety-five Per Cent of the Stock Shown on Shelves of Birmingham Stores Is Home PrOduct-Cheaper, More Durable and Better In All Ways
By CHARLES II. MANDY

Hc idtd idS Dt0H pTtNdfClit ioi SSAA'N- | time that the majority of toys and toy publications come from abroad. Such is not the case, however. for as result "t an investigation of the stock of half a dozen leading firms of the city who ham, dle toys it was found that from 60 to 95 per cent of the goods displayed for sale were American made. Not only that but according to the managers of the toy departments and the buyers of this class of goods. American made toys are superior in every detail. They are more durable, more practical and cheaper than the foreign made goods. This does not include the 1o-cent variety for the great majority of these are made abroad. In only one department do the foreign made goods show up better than home products and that is in fancy dolls The foreign made goods are cheaper and of a greater variety, and yet the hest doll on the market is made in America, the indestructable wooden doll made by d Philadelphia firm
 In picture books, the novelties of the season are all American made All wheel goods such as velocipedes. bicycles. motors, truck and wagons are American made and have absolutely driven the for eign product off of the market. The same can be said of tool chests, wood and wire works In fact in every branch with one or two exceptions the American
 made toys, although produced by higher priced labor are cheaper than foreign
 made goods of inferior quality.
 Foreign Goods Being Crowded Out
 While the war is undoubtedly respon- sible to some extent for the predominance of home made toys yet. according to the dealers, home products have been crowd ing the foreign made goods from the markets for several years past. As a matter of fact nearly every order for foreign made toys that were placed be- fore the outbreak of the European war have been filled through New York brokers.
 Jerome Sterne, of Loveman, Joseph X Loeb, commenting on the subject, said
 We have this year bought more games and books for children than ever be- fore, and all made and printed in Amer ica. and they are more up-to-date and amusing than any l have seen.
 We are carrying all the Schoenhut make of toys. This Philadelphia firm is the maker of the famous Humpty Dumpty' circus sets and a host of other high grade toys, including the wooden doll, said to be the best in the world. Another new toy that we are featuring is the American model building sets, from which child can make models of l,,tf cly phaire and host of other things. All our wheel
 goods are American made. We handle nothing in this line that is imported" Coming Into His Own
 A. w. B. Johnson, of the Steele-Smith Dry Goods company said that with the increased market for American made toys the American toy maker Is coming into
 his own. He stated the lasting qualities of the American made goods will recom- mend them above all others. Johnson said that his firm was carrying large line of American goods and also had received their regular Christmas im- portations from Europe.
 Sol Caheen. of Caheen Brothers, said: "Yes 95 per cent of our toys are Ameri- can made. We do not carry the cheaper grade of toys, such as the little stamped tin things, but make a speciality of the more expensive toys. All our wheel goods; woodenware, doll furniture, games,
 and higher grade of toys are American
 made. We have few expensive foreign
 made toys, but the large majority of our | stock is home product"
 John Anderson, of the Pizitz store, said: ",The stock of toys we will handle this year will be % per cent American made, because they are cheaper, better made and as a rule have more of an educa- tlo14al value. All the American made
 wheel goods and wooden goods are far superior to the foreign made article. In fact we carry no foreign made veloci- pedes, doll carriages, bicycles or goods of like character. An unusual thing ia
 the toy business is a guarantee of the goods against breakage, but this year a Chicago firm guarantees the mechanism
 of the American Flyer a toy engine,
 for six months. This has never been done before and shows the superiority of the I home made iron toys of those from abroad"
 America Leads the World 1 Mir. Riddle of the Drennen department stores stated that with the exception of the dolls and some of the smaller me-
 chanical toys all their stock was Ameri-
 can made. He said that Tn games and | toy sporting goods America had led the
 world for sometime. The superiority of the American air rifles. he states, had pra ctically driven all foreign competition from the market. and that the same con- ditions prevailed with wheel goods and building novelties. MT. Riddle stated that their display would be as complete as in former years and that all lines of novelties were on display.
 John O'Neill, of 'The Fair said that American toy goods were superior IT every respect than those made abroad and that the stock at The Far was prac- tically all American made goods. Ht said the home toy manufacturer had fully demonstrated that toys can be made cheaper and better in this country thar anywhere in the world.
 i And if this is true in regard to toys,
 said MT. O Neill. "the same thing applies
 to other manufactured products. We hav'
 keen relying too much on foreign i'm portat ons. and If the toy maker in th country who pay better wages can com pete with the cheaper labor of Europ' the manufacturer of other commoditie can do the same. We have a great to,