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

Hard as il is to break away from
| The allurements of Toyland, the
| Christmas anticipations of older folks
! must be given a thought. though to
| follow Santa Claus into every depart
| ment where he pokes his nose In his
| search for gifts would be to detail the
history of every class of merchandise
| that comes into department store,
AS that is quite impractical. only the
high snots'' of gift hunting will be
| touched upon.
Handkerchiefs-w every depart
ment store advertises as gifts 10
please every one" also as the most
satisfactory of last minute gfts
seem as numberless as the SANDS Oh
| the sca. 1t isn't easy to picture 10
one,s self a half.million or more hand
kerchiefs. vet that is about the guam.
| titv which the average handkerchief
department considers necessary to
meet the demands of the Christmas
| trade. About one.third of this num-
Der is of domestic manufacture, the
| other two-thirds are imported from
| Switzerland, France, Germany, Eng
| land. Ireland, Italy, Porto RICO, Ma
deira, and Japan. Any one with an
avidity for statistics might ENJOY ns-
| uring out, on this base how many
handkerchiefs are imported for Amer
ica's Christmas gifts.
France sends us the daring novel
| ties, painted or printed; Switzerlano'
| the fine lace trimmed and eXcelient
| machine embroidered linens. From
italy. Porto Rico, and MADEIRA we
, receive our beautiful hand-worked
handkerchiefs. Ireland furnishes the
+, ma jority of the fine plain linens, ana
/ japan the novelties of pongee. Ger
many and Czechoslovakia strive TO
COPY, and not altogether successfully,
| the products of the other nations.
Decorative china, pottery, and gift
glassware, which spring up at Christ
mas time like mushrooms, come from
many lands. Germany and France.
particularly the latter, still retain
! their prestige as manufacturers of
| fine china, while Venice and Bohemia.
as in the days of their past glories,
vie for supremacy in the manufacture
OF glassware; and thither the buyer
| of this class of goods makes his pill
grimage. He can often find In
Czechoslovakia exceedingly clever ana
! far less expensive reproductions OF
the finer glassware.
While the buyers of the various de.
partments are out hunting their mer'
chandise, the display man, who is re-
sponsible for the store setting and
vaudeville stunts of the stores holt
day season, is probably returning
from his accommodating tour. Be
/ fore the last Christmas decoration OF
one year has been taken down, he
| must start out on his guest for the
next years attractions. For scenic
effects backgrounds, ETC.. for ami
mate Notwithstanding bears, dane.
| ing clowns, performing animals,
gnomes, and others, he follows the
! lead of theatrical producers. securing
/ his window features from the makers
of theatrical properties. or from the
manufacturers who produce great
! floats for carnivals, Mardi-Gras pa
rades, and similar events.
| 1t is not necessary for him to go
| beyond the confines of the United
! states for them, as America produces
| most of these trick attractions. The
interior decorations, the Christmas
wreaths, festoons, the trimmings on
pillar and post, as well as the window
displays are under the display mans
charge. As many of these special
Christmas features require electric
lighting lights that glow, or twinkle