Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-12-18

n ! youngster-if any such still
| Nv exist-wakes up on Christ
V mas morning TO the delights
of the new toys, he wonders
vaguely how they happened to be
there for him. Santa Claus brought
| Them" ne is told. and his little soul Is
strangely thrilled with the mystery OF
| it all, but presently he forgets his
wonder In the pleasure of the new
1 playthings.
Children a little older. and, alas,
grown more worldly wise, are very
apt to remark. Hey. pop, you did get
| that bike we saw at Claus & Co. s.
didn't you? Gee, but it's a WOW
WOW" " :,
We, the older children" who call
| ourselves the ''grown-ups," smile hap
nily when we find a gift whose value
| Is heightened by the foreign label OF
| the mark of famous maker or
craftsman, scarcely ever giving q
| thought to all the machinery which
was set in motion to bring the grit 10
us on Christmas day.
The average shopper. particularly In
| the larger towns and cities OF Amer
| lea. does the greater part of ms
Christmas shopping in the large de-
partment stores-or his wife does II
| for him. When the holidays are over
| bills paid, and the disappointing glfts
exchanged for those more satistac'
tory, he forgets about Christmas gifts
for another year, feeling assured that
when the season again approaches
his fayorite department store VIII DC
ready, whenever he pushes the but
ton" with his checkbook, to do the
rest" 1t always is ready.
Few holiday shoppers give more
/ IN
mense preparations which are neces'
sary to make this readiness possible
Nor do they realize how early such
preparations must begin.
AS Christmas is pre-eminentiy tne
children's festival, interest natufaliy
centers around the toy and doll de
partments. Dolls have been the cher
ished treasures of Juvenile femininity
since wee Egyptian maidens ciaspeo
to their little hearts the board-ike
wooden dolls with painted faces ano
Wanted clothes and hair made OF drieo
Nile mud strung together like beads
Perhaps in even earlier times pren.s
| toric babies may have played with
dolls formed of fig leaf. and bone
and a bit of fur that served for hair
! From what places and in what mum
hers today do these little "make-be
lieve" people come-these dolls which
J American little girls, and sometimes
little boys, receive with open arms:
Before the great World Wars Ger
many supplied America with the
greater part of her doll population
Since the war, owing to the almost
prohibitive import duties and the In
creasing cleverness of American man
ufacturers. the foreign influx has beer
cut down, possibly so per cent New
ertheiess, an alert department man
ager must let no interesting noveitS
escape him, whether foreign or DO
mestic. He therefore embarks foI
Europe. usually in the latter part oil
January or the first of February, t.
seek fresh novelties for critical Ameri
can children. He may have a definite
objective, or just go scouting. one
thing he has learned about the chill
dren of the present day: They do mol
like to pretend" II they have a toy
sewing or washing machine, 1t must
sew or wash. Electric cars must rur
by Neutrality-suspicious. will no longer
answer.
Many of the German dolls are made
in ths homes Of the peasants or hum