Evening star., 1951-11-07
ToyIond T
Abundant
Christmas
Supplies
By Betty Miles

WaShington's toyland will be al
wonderful girl and boy land this
year-if you do your shoppingl
early. and that means right now.
Buyers and owners of toy stores
we talked to all were agreed onI
one thing: The feared shortagesl
did not materialize. AS q matterl
of fact. they are agreed in describ-
ing the supply as "very good"
Shelves are bulging right now
with all manner of toys. andl
prices have not risen over last
year.
Some train lines have been cutI
down. but there are still plenty of
trains available, for the men in
the family.
One owner. however, believes
that by Christmas eve some of
the metal things will be scarce
indeed. They have been made,
but in short supply, he declared.
Some aluminium things. such as
fire engines and dishes, may be
hard to find from the very be-
ginning. Good rubber dolls are
hard TO find, with a good many
substitutes being used for the
precious material.
There has been some deteriora-
tion in quality. too. he believes,
with certain types of plastics sub
stituted for metal in some cases.
All things considered. though,
this more cautious observer added,
q much more drastic situation
was anticipated" and a merry
Christmas toywise is in the cards.
Getting down to cases, one large
department store reports that
they will have 95 million games to
SELL sounds more like the kind
of figure you get from the White
House." their spokesman pointed
out. Imported toys will share the
spotlight with domestic toys here
and elsewhere. AS a matter of
fact this toy department will be
divided into two parts - foreign
and domestic. Toys from England.
France, Switzerland. Germany and
Italy, including dolls, stuffed ami
mails. miniature cars. automobiles
and dump trucks, will be available.
The imported toys are inexpen-
sive for the most part, this in
formant reported. and are beauti-
fully made. Most of them are |
machine-made. ;
For the hobby minded there will
be hobby division. featuring air !
plane. auto and other kits.
The Christmas ornaments are
especially good this year, he de-
clared, particularly those turned
out by German craftsmen with a
special touch for such things.
The Washington branch of a
famous toy store reports an array
of toys that reads like a dream
letter to Santa, ranging in price
from few cents to many dollars.
Horses, Austins
tIlC
on hand is the skin swing horse.
a glorified hobby horse made Of :
real skin. It is a Steif animal :
made in Germany. :
For small moderns more en- :,
chanted with the machine age
and its horseless carriage, they
have an Austin car, with pneu- s
matte tires, and lights and horn |
that operate on a battery.
For little girls, there are gro ,
Gerry stores large enough to stand
in. complete with stock.
The complete line of Marklin ,
trains is there, new this year in
this store. Imported from Ger
many, they look like a European
train, are built to scale, and are
HO gauge. This manager re-
ported that there is a Marklin
Club in Washington, incidentally, ,
made up of enthusiasts who
brought such trains from Europe.
You'll find a transparent motor
there, too, which illustrates the
working of a four-cylinder gaso-
line engine-it comes built up or
In kit form. Complete instructions