Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-12-04
CHRISTMAS RUSH 1
! At STORES BEGINS.
-.Jards Are Swamped by JOY
nus Youngsters Ready for
4 Santa Claus
.EvERYBoDYS BUYING NOW

Tho spirit of Christmas surseS hlsn
!, ph;,odeIphia today. On the stree'S
!. irst whimsically busy, SURFING
J.ooms md ouickcning new hopes )
oIa I, =. tbc department stores, with rec
Ou, ;" n.owds chccrfully jostling their
,.r o," through holly deckcd aisIes' the
tSljdoy i urge has lCapcd to real car
uiyul heights. ~ Cor y Today is
NE srSt Saturday in December; the
the n,ioricoi n,s moment when all think
ISlrli;t; ISl1;.;.cns nausc, clutch subconSclously
Ing a;n ti' mockrtbooks and discover that
" 'n n."ot drama Christmas. or at least
Me srst net Of it. is upon them.
'"g "| tbo dcnnrtmcnt stores there IS no
,,.ting III .%r thr truth of their discovery.
M.,'aSr% Ts. "torcs THEMSELVES. with their. gilt
,s .uS S' Halliday decorations and their at
.I,,; .,;ro wares look like gigantic Christ
"s u", ,roos and the throngs of shoppers
~ ma .tom hive that 1ollincSs of mood
~ n.s vi tbot frantic purpose of eye waich
s"" so",o on,y once year and can never
be mistaken, J,,o..,ron+s tho
Tho OpWlltltI lH@ ~ ~
,,..oirr counters. the places where
!,ot"norv " books. handkerchicfs and
so' s,ou's tics are sold and all other pc
rnially popular holiday dcpartmon,ts n,,.
have been under siege since carry
Morning. with the palm OF popularity
Going undoubtedly to the toy depart
ment.
Children Rush in Stores
rcng Saturday. thousand upon
thousand Of children were brought IN
,ovn for their yearly visit with Santa
| Claus and all the wonderful things that
arc sprcad out all about him. or course,
F Il rou dou't believe in Santa Claus it's
not fnir % 60 in.
Bpt i isn't hard to have faith up
there today up on the third floor or the
fourth floor or wherever your fayoritc
toy department happens to be. All YOU
nave 10 do is stand perfectly still and
listen. Sure as Christmas some little
yo,cr will make up your mind for you.
II will say, Mother. he said hello to
me and said hello to him an then he
sad was | coed and | said | WIS
The voice will br awcd. 1t will belong
10 A little girl whose mother has taken
oF her hat and coat to make her at home
IN toyland or it will be the property OF
, mail rambunrtiOus boy whom nothing
IN the room hut the great Santa Claus
himself could inspire with awe.
But awe isn't lasting long up there
| today in Toyland. There are too many
things to do. One department store
has a real race trnck with real live
ponies for the children to ride. And
| then there are the electric trains with
real tracks; H"roplancS whizzing through
| the air, and battlcShips ScOoting around
IN real tanks into which small boys can
trail their arms when their mothers
aren't looking,
big Children on Hand
OF course, everybody who goes up in
the toy department isn't little or hasn't
anyone little with them. 1t is rumorcd
that persons 60 up there who flush up
when you ask them why they came and
t5sn they say: "Why. don't know. |
sort Of driftcd in-that is I'm buying
for Mary's baby" Some say that and
then there are others who are honest.
They just come right out with it.
Honest they say. "I'm a perfect
''"' Nu'''' bAb lluNt II DtIltE IlIlp
than the kids. wandering around up
here. The only trouble is once get
IN the place ! can never get out of il >"
All Of the busy holiday shopping to-
day hasn't to do with gifts in tho way
Of toys and novelties. Department
store heads agree that the tendency to
buy practical gifts, born during the lean
years Of war time. still persists. The
crowds throng pcrSStentIy in the de-
rar,tments whore anything to wear is
sold.
TN fact" one store official said
they seem to be buying practical things
mat range all the way from twenty
Of furniture" " T'' p''''
lhe hard times that are reported 10
nave nor" or less lightly descended on
lhe country are not affecting in ony
way the holiday buying. department
sore heads say, One store rcnortcd
mat Una its sales during November broke
'! rnr previous records for that month.
ihis was attributed to the slow con.
,n'en, % christmas shopping of those
o.. .o,''n, souls who did their buyinp
no nboH but it is taken to indica,e that
So s real earnest holiday buying that
D,S,1,.,m wS,IS IN IN December will be un.