Evening star., 1914-12-20

FOiiIS tLr-z,a-ls l." Of MOI
abe one :ur American niaiit'-
III lecturers oi -".S. Ion 1t has
q :ound them ready 10 meet the
et4ersen,y tilat places Atuerican-
made TOYS mote cv:spicil, ,lsIy tlisn
ever ntrure III th. oren markets
- the world. American manufactured =
oN .4"i only have -"rlt Iato their own
s;. taking the largest part - th..
'.4T;st!nas toy trade Of this country -.
lost "f tie various lines. nut tic
ave s.lso lnv,to"o those couI.,r-' =
vl.ich l.-ve l.eretoforr been oonsidere,i
1,.e very !.unIeS Of The toy Industry
's;- ;ac LAST ten 10 ffteen years the
~ industry IN the t-..ited States has
-.- -roviIss steadily. This year. with
r. --..r -.1usiI.g =. fear that II woUid
impossible to get toys from the
i.uf.. ctu.ers il the old world. there
Y curry of many wholesalers and
{: ~. large Department. stores to place
TX orders. The factories scattered
t''-oughout nearly every state IN the
J'.ion We're found ready and willing to
.et thc -inergency- 1t WAS the psy-
Geological moment for which they had
"rTs. waiting mere than It decade ard
10y set their plants 20 work. InaLy
o. them cu i twenty -four- hour-a ID. '
.1s3S.
There has been a Gear expressed
funded on sood commercial basis. that
t',.re ould be Il famine of foreign
lad. toys, particularly from Germany.
this year. But many of the buyers Tor
large stores all over the country had
visited the foreign toy Hiarts early
- March, placed large orders for early
delivery and had their Christmas s;oci,
under their roofs before the war broke
Other buyers, however. including
come or the largest importers in New
York. were not so far sighted. and
when the commerce between the conti-
nents was stopped by the war they
we're in great fear and hurried to buy
up all the toys that could be manufac-
' tured in this country.
Then came strange swing of the
trade pendulum. which makes the
United states the one country where
viii be found this Christmas more for
cign-uade toys than ever. but with Il
strongly Increasing preference for
ZONE products.
In times of peace :; large number of
,ermau-niade toys have been sold In
England. France. Russia and Canada
This year there is Il strong antipathy
iu those countries against German
products. The dealers have refused to
accept the large invoices that they had
ofuereu III Inc sPIlie anu 'relHiaH5
feared that even if the goods Were
shipped they would not be paid for; so
there was nothing left but for the
United States to be the one country in
. the world that can have all the Ger
man toys it cares to buy.
OF course. the cost of sending them
Jy rail to Rotterdam and there re-
handled onto ships is much higher than
i they were shipped. heretofore,
rom the two great ports of Germany
Brenerhaven. the outlet for Bremen,
and Cooks Haven. the outlet for Ham
burg. But the restricted market for
their sale reduced TN. manufacturers
goods to Americans are just about the
same they ordinarily have been.
Ana here is where American makers
have profited, Canada is buying heavi-
ly Of AmeriCan-made toys. and the
countries at war, particularly the al
l:7s, are spending what they can spare
for toys iu this their year of greatest
financial strir.eu'-y, here ,n the United
States So the trade mar, Ma de In the
Y. ;. n is this year cons ricuous in all
tn toy trade centers of th. world
Now, while The spirit of the times is
:" prOIitiouS for the world -Iuarl.etir.;,
Of American made toys, IL must be rec
ognizei that there stilI some toy
products in which other countries par
tic'IlarIy German. hold a monopoly.
While there are many excellent dolls
made in this country. they are Of the
c4eaper quality. selling for from IS
cents to g" Wllilc the finer grades of
stiII iHcomparabiy monopolized by Ger
any.
In Christmas tree ornaments Ger
many also has a monopoly. with head
quarters in Sonnenberg. There are fac
tories for these blown glass gaudy