Evening star., 1936-12-19
REALITY IN TOYS

with elaborately constructed puppe'
families that may be bought in group
or singly, and there are cardboard
characters that may be slid across
little wooden stages by means Of wires.
THE doll world offers a beVildering
assortment, from the shoe button
eyed colored NANNY, with her black
wool hair, to the latest arrival from
Paris, with her wardrobe Of gowns.
hats, shoes and lingerie. The dolls
represent all ages, too, from that IA
nous infant Shakespeare described as
"muling and puking in its nurses
arms" and lifting curled arms to be
taken up BY any handy admirer. tn
the grandmother hill-billy doll with
corncob pipe in her mouth and cslicf'
shawl across her wasted shoulders.
Chsra cter dolls, in fact, have a par
ticular appeal. it appears, to the young
ladies this season. All the characters
of the screen are here, like "Micky
Mouse" Betty Boop" and other favor
ties. but there are as well dolls from
every foreign land appropriately garh-
ed in the dress of their native lands.
Some of these little foreign dolls are
enchanting in their curious headgears.
their enormous sleeves. their full
skirts and lace aprons or their high.
shiny boots.
There seems TO be a relapse in the
popularity of the quintuplet idea, SO
far as dolls are concerned. Or per
haps it is that manufacturers de-
SPARED of keeping pace with the real
quins' development and particular
little ladies might sniff But l mean
like they are now e. that's the way
they were last year." Anything 50
susceptible Of development as the
Dionne quintuplets might easily, 1t sp-
pears TO this unofficial observer, prove
to be a drag on the market from sea-
son 10 season. In party favors, how
ever. the idea persists. and several
very wee baby carriages or cribs still
form the background for a series of
five little faces, not too artfully glued
in a row on cotton wool counterpart
Teddy bears. when realism has not
been the prime motif, are as cuddly
as ever. and still come in a range of
sizes from a vest-pocket edition TO
lifelike hind-snimal performer bear
as tall as a maiden and as high as
mummyS waist.
THERE is a great deal Of satisfaction
in observing the noticeable de-
cline in popularity of those TOYS that
have to do with war or might be sald
to incite the war idea in the juvenile
mind While toy soldiers and sailori
still draw the attention of the maScu'
line eye, there are not the crowds toe
day that once clustered breathleSslS
about the crouched khaki figures, tha
miniature cannonS, the mounted cav"
airy figures or the barbed-wlre en-
tanglements of miniature battle fronts
The same allure OF trlmneSS and Or
derlineSs and the charm of lines in
march has been achieved in the Boy
Scout groups. poured, let US hope. from
the tin which yesteryear nodded the
vicious little figure with bayonet up
raised. in the same way, Scout pup
tents and similar objects connected
with outdoor life of non-mllltant
nature have replaced in favorltiSm
the bellicose charging armies OF the
past.
A psychologist would be interested,
too, in the manner in which in some
instances the toy has remained to all
intents and purposes the same as IN
other years, but its appeal has AL
tered with the times. Consider the
gun. First displayed as an object for
war, for destruction, today one sees
it advertised in such ways AS this.
"G-Men gun" Police Officer rifle"
Little boys are being swung over, or
perhaps it is that their parents have
undergone a change of heart, and
wish to emphasize the side of law and
order. Where in other years they
we're offered the machine gun like
given a machine gun used by the G.
men to capture gangsters," It's
subtle point, but fine one.
There are popguns for playing cow
boys and Indians, as of yore, and
those mischevious, but irresistible,
water guns so dear to the hearts of
little Pucks. There are target games,
archery sets, badmnton, table tennis,
ping pong, construction and erector
sets. and a game called -Four Men on
Horse" There are knives with a
bewildering multiplicity of blades, box
ing gloves drums, flies, trumpets and
bugles. And there are baby pianos
that match the new spinet types in
mothers city apartment.
In the world of music there is, in
deed a complete collection of inStru-
ments Radio bands, 1t appears, are
having an influence upon the little
fellows at home, and all the para
phernalia, from batons to traps, are
there for those who would do Bling
Crosby" or a Rudy Vallee" in the
family parlor,
All sorts of novelties have been in
troduced this season. too. One such
is the Knockout Champs ring
complete with ropes and two small
champs" all ready to fight. You
wind the toy and start the champs by
pressing lever. When a fighter Is
knocked out the bell rings and the
toy stops. To start the next round
you press the lever again. The champs
60 from five to six rounds without
rewinding and you can bet on the
number of rounds, as there is no
way Of knowing when the contraption