San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-27
NO GERMAN TOYS

wv dENMAN lOIS
American buyers who usually invade
Germany along about August to buy
consignments of toys for the holiday
trade in. America are not buying toys
this year in Germany! According to adj
vices to New York wholesale dealers
Germany has finally been eliminated
from the toy market and for the first
time in nearly half century except
during the war, few German toys will
be on the American market this Christ
mas.
There was time when the German
toy makers were the acknowledged mas
tiers of the toy business. They not only
were the most expert but their market
ing system had been built up until they
practically controlled the toy trade of
the world.
Before the war about ninety per cent
OF the toys sold in the United States
came from Germany. The industry was
highly profitable to the Germans and
in several localities it was the chief
business for entire cities and villages.
But even with the cheap labor created
by after-war conditions in Germany. the
German toy makers no longer can conf
pete with several other nations. There
are large number of toys made in the
United States now where formerly we
had only few small toy factories.
American dolls. are far more popular
with the American children than foreign
made dolls Because they have more
natural characteristics. But all our TOYS
are being made at home now, although
we have several active competitors.
Japan entered the toy making. industry
some years ago and is heavy seller to
American dealers. Czecho-Slovakia also
is in the field and we get many toys
from Italy, France and other countries.
The Germans are making many TOYS
this year. but they are too costly COM
pared with other nations, buyers report.
1t seems probable that within a few
years the American toy industry will be
so well established that our importations
of toys will be materially reduced.
There seems no good reason why this
country should not make all the TOYS
sold here. There is Just as much skill
among our workers and we have the
added facilities of knowing what the
buyers want and of nearness to market.
Unfortunately, expensive TOYS can be
sold only in limited amounts. The, child
OF poor parents however is just as exact
ing as the child of the rich.
here are preat MANY mora MOO,
children than there are rich children.
hence the demand for cheaper TOYS is
larger than the demand for expensive
toys. 1t has been difficult for American
manufacturers to turn out the cheaper
grades of toys because of the higher
wages necessarily paid American work
ers. 1t is believed however that this
situation can be overcome in great part
by invention of machinery peculiarly
adapted to toy making so that a highly
pald worker can turn out enough TOYS
IN day to bring down the retail price
within the sum that cheap foreign TOYS
command.
At all events, the once great German
toy market has been temporarily lost to
Germany until the toymakers in that
country can find some solution for their
problems. Incidentally. a new standard
Tor toys is being created and in the event
that the Germans again seek to enter
world markets they may have to revise
their toys considerably in order to make
them popular again.