The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1914-12-12

Christmas as a sciencei How
~ grandfathers would have gasped at
-%1EEaJ the ideal In their time Christmas
was a spontaneous holiday. Christ
eve they hung their stockings the mantel-
piece in full confidence that Santa Claus could
find his way through a six-inch stovepipe. Then
there the Christmas tree with grandfather
to distribute the gifts and strong force of uncles
and aunts to maintain peace among the cousins
And there 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 Christmas trees subject to the regula
tons of the fire department, but really
slaves of Christmas shopping list. From
Thanksgiving to Christmas most of US live in an
atmosphere of deepening gloom. We have
tinually hanging that dreadful problem
of what would be the best thing to give Soand-
so, and when we have made selection our hearts
sink at the awful thought that perhaps. What's
hisname 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 gift
to 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
lect present which 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-
hibts of gifts for children in the schools of the
large cities of the country. And the second is
the scientific arrangement of gifts for sale in the
shops and department stores. On 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
tions for women and boys and girls 1t is all the
direct result of the card index and the filing cab
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 much
to 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. 1t
is to save the children from being deluged at
the Christmas season with inartistic unhygien1c
and useless gifts. Esthetic and hygienic are
words that loom up larger in the vocabulary OF
the present than that of the past
And So although Noah's ark will remain Noah's
,rk to the end of the world, twentieth century
youn gster whose family attends Of these
hibits will feel constrained to suck the paint on
Shem Ham OF Japhet. For, 10 and behold, they
are entirely innocent of the familiar red and
green and blue of that unsanitary century We
have left behind The of the patriarch and
all the animals that went in two by two" are of
reasonably hygienic white wood
By the same token dolls will be dolls. For here
egain the scientific Christmas has produced
change to a more esthetic and hygenic product.
Instead of the big rag doll, whose features have
been kissed into obIiteration by several genera
tons of children, there is a stockinet successor,
equally unbreakabe, far more beautiful, and abb
solutely impervious to washing.
For older children one finds marvellous all
wood dolls. again embodying the three important
virtues They are unbreakable, washable and ar
tstic Their naturalness is evident at glance
and the visitor is not surprised to learn that they
are reproductions of American children modelled
by American artists.
And yet the thought rises will modern Dorothys
and Nancys love these charming creations
whit more than their mothers and grandmothers
loved the china and does who preceded
them? There was Henrietta, a gorgeous Partisan,
you may remember, whose pink and white lowell
is still happy memory. Poor Henrietta!
She died the victim of bad small brother VINO
tried the effect of midsummer heat upon her
waxen complexion. Then there Juliet she
of real brown hair that combed and a
brunette complexion and host of others who
may have had untold attractions. But you must
put them out of your mind 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 the
result of the practically of our time Rousekeep
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 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 generation gone
by! These have from two to three octaves of the
chromatc scale and accurately tuned ito
concert pitch"
But all such marvels cost money and are not
likely to avail much for the household where
five six must live small income. So it is
good to discover a containing number OF
toys at a minimum price Not one exceeds ten
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