New Britain herald., 1927-12-15
ELECTRIC NARYELS
 REPLACE OLD TOYS
But Dolls Are Same as 5000
 Years Ago
BY WILLIAM THOMPSON Fellow Of the Royal Geographic
 Society
Written especially for The Herald
 and NEA Service

lciloW CT the Royal Geographic Society
 Written especially for The Heralt
 and NEA Service
 | Thousands of years ago a httl
 baby fell asleep in a dark cave
 clutching a small object in its tin, fist. The object was the first toy. ! Perhaps it was a weathered bone
 or the tooth of some anima! th, baby's father had killed; or if nigh
 have been d bright pebble or E shell. Certainly it was nothing pre-.
 tentious, but the baby. like all chil. dren, treasured its plaything. Girls Invented Dolls
 These primitive toys developed. as
 centuries passed, into small bows and arrows, little spears and clubs
 models of the weapons the men used Ill hunting and fighting. And the lit tie girl, watching their mothers take care Of the babies doubtless were re- sponsible for the invention of the first dolls.
 All thls happened many thousands Of years ago; for by the time civiH- zation had advanced to the earliest stages of which We now have rec ords. there was quite q variety of toys for children. And always there were dolls-dolls not so tremendous ly unlike those which American r6l1tr1f1 r,11 r,.i+I
 The oldest toys in existence are those used by the children Of ancient Egypt and Greece. In the British museum are playthings that were in tfse 1000 years before the Christian era. Among them is an Egyptian doll; a stiff, awkward looking man. nlkln of wood, which doubtless was dressed in gay clothes and fondled tenderly by some dusky child in the days when the Nile river was the center of civilization.
 A number of toys of ancient Greece exists. The Greeks made better dolls than the Egyptians, there are rag dolls, dolls of ivory and bone, wooden dolls with jointed arms and legs. some of them fully dressed. These latter were prob- ably too costly to be played with every day; consequently they es- capped rough usage as most dolls and have survived for our 
 Boys Had Marbles
 Greek boys had their playthings, too. They had marbles, just as modern boys have; and an ancient cad chariot with a little lead 1orseman, about an inch and q half high, is still in existence. There also is little lead soldier. mounted on q horse and carrying 1 spear and shield.
 There were also rattlcs for the | cry small babies, Toy dogs. mon- leys, donkeys and other animals 'till exist, and balls, hoops and ops have been found in Greek and | Roman ruins
 In Africa, children of the jungle Jay with model animals, which | hey make themselves with consid- rable skill. Similarly. in Java nd Ceylon the children spend ours making elaborate rag dolls. unfortunately, these dolls are rized so highly by tourists that he children seldom play with them, eins driven by poverty to sell them { docks and railway stations.
 The most famous doll in the 'orld was Pandora. sizeable 'annlllin that existed about the mo of the American revolution. andora was dressed in the latest arisian styles and sent across the tlantic so that the women Of the olonies could know what to wear. 1 Ter coming was awaited with l lgorness, and it is reported that nee the ship that carried her was ,, ven a safe passage in time of war. Toys became elaborate as Civili- ltion advanced. The little Dau- min of France, whose father ,, ouis XVI, porished in the French Nolution, had a little bureau with :, ue porcelain panels. with con : aled bird that appeared and sang usica)ly when hidden spring as touched. Similarly. Napoleons tie son, the young King of Rome, ld q device of tri-Colored balls hich were to be tossed into an = 'enins beneath the oustretchod 7gS of an eagle.
 During the last a years toys 1 NC changed more than in many ~ injuries preceding. The introduc- '. m of electricity has been largely fl sponsiblc: toys are mechanical v q complicated now, with elab- ate miniature railroad systems tricks. boats, engines and the q e. For the doll Is a universal toy. s probably will exist, unchanged a cept for minor details, to the end sr time. c pyright. 1927. NEA Service Inc. ir Nr, L. Davy, English, grocer. re- s ltly received postcard mailed by st : brother in 1908. The writer has O An dead for ] , years. u