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

ble townsfolk. The German charac.
| ter dolls for a long time seemed 10
| have few rivals, but America is now
making great strides in this industry.
| Almost as varied as the types OF hu-
manity are the types of dolls that
| come trooping by thousands INTO the
department store at Christmas tlme.
To say thousands is no exaggeration,
for the average department store
Christmas stock of dolls-foreign and
! domestic-will number from 10000 to
| 80 900. stocks of a few stores running
even higher.
Where do all the whirling, whizzing
and completely fascinating mecham,
| cal and electrical toys come from!
Little Austria. shrunk from once
proud 100000 to meager 6,O0o,ooO
| population, produces many mechanical
| TOYS, and Czechoslovakia. the new
little country northeast of the present
Austria, also furnishes many; but the
| finer and more intricate mechanical
toys are chiefly found in France.
When electricity waves the magic
wand AMI sets. miniature trains rush
| ing around on miniature tracks. turns
wheels, drives small power engines
and performs all the thrilling stunts
which transform a modern toy depart
ment into a jazzy band, one Is apt to
| find Yankee ingenuity holding the
wand, for America leads in the manu-
| facture of electrical toys, thanks to
| the spirit of BENJAMIN Franklin and
| the "wizardry" of Thomas Edison.
Toy buyers who seek novelties
abroad are often called upon to use a
| lively Imagination and visualize the
| finished product. as it frequently hap
| pens that a hastily sketched design
| oil
have to go upon.
| Large.wheeled toys automobiles
| scooters, bicycles and similar toys-are
chiefly American productions, as we'll
as the better class of doll furniture.
\ American manufacturers also have
| large share in the game-making in.
! dustry. though France furnishes
| fair proportions and England provides
many of the games of indoor and out
door sports and much of the sports
| equipment.
Without the Christmas tree and its
| strange and wondrous fruit, Christ.
mas would lose much of its festivity.
| Gone would be the gorgeously coiored
balls. the gold and silver flowers. the
butterflies that no entomologist ever
dreamed of catching and classifying.
| and gone the bright stars that shine
at the top of the tree. Christmas
trees however, still flourish and once
| each year bear their brilliant fruit.
/! The ma jority of these fragile tree
ornaments are imported, and the
| greater part of them are made In pri-
! vate German homes by whole fam
| lilies of skilled workers. Sonnenberg
| is one center of this home industry.
| 1t is here that the commissionaires
meet the American buyers. transact
ing the business of bargaining for
| the workers. They also attend to all
matters of packing and shipping of
| the wares.
| An entire German family, father.
mother and all the children who are
old enough have their part In the
1 work, each family busying itself with
but one type of ornament. On one
| side of the quaint old streets. in some
| modest little house. gay balls like
crystallized bubbles. grow magicaliy
under the skillful fingers OF some
| haxen.haircd little Gretchen or Hans.
while across the street another fam
| lily may be living. quite literally.
butterfly existence" Still further
| down the street, perhaps, another
| family will have hitched its car Of
fortune to the Christmas stars.