6 THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 15. 1913. WITH Santa Old?, ss i ff. FA How Christmas Playthings Are Produced and Marketed This Year Marks Climax in Un'que Novelties, With General Trend Toward the Practical How Thousands of Workmen Have Libored for Months to Make Portland Children Happy. . 1 rr f TTltSW tf 7 T saiw- ttv rmur! xTTrN i. 1 " TJ . P Aim r r 2 ; 9 "B-JLii.JtS4 : ; - rj sin 4 w iri . , fill -M - 'V V4 - i - -v, s NT 1 "4b ' I 15 . J . -:j .. '' '- " i , - n f ' i v FT V ODERN1BM has captnred Toylan4. The whole mighty kingdom bu fallen Into the rush and crush at progresalveneas with results that will surprise you when you BO down Wis year to io the Santa Claus act. Tou will And faces and forms you hare never seen before; you will see old toys do new tricks and new toys do old tricks; you will see many new appliances on old-fashioned playthings; you will hardly recognise the old toy land yon have been used to visiting each year. Dolls will be different There will be a difference in toy trains and street cars and wagons and automobiles. Even the animals will be different. It will be like going Into e modern world after living In the woods; everything will seem new and strange. Perheps you may wonder what those extra, knobs are on the side of the nickel-plated air-rifle you have always seen on the market at Christmas time. Tou And out that they are safety ap pliances to protect their owners from accidents. I Again you wonder why a lot more parts have been added to the toys which run by springs the automobiles and trains for tnstanoe. Tou discover that the improved toys do a lot of new stunts, such as bill climbing, water pumping, reversing and making long-distaace runs. Tou wonder what has happened to the dolls and find out their features have been re-proportioned and remodeled, and that they are mode somewhat differently. Tou wonder why new parts have been added to the toy torpedo boats and you disoover they now are made to dive and operate under water. And so It goes clear down the list. Everything seems' to have been given some new parts with which to perform new stunts. Toy experts declare that the pres ent year has seen more progress and changes In toys than any other year in toy history. It seems to have been the one aim of manufacturers this year to bring about some new novel ties and to devise new things for old toys to do. Also It Is very noticeable that the manufacturers have been im proving on the old toys In many ways. making them more substantial, more attractive and of more value, from an educational standpoint. Life Taken aa Model. It has gotten so now that there Is no more room In teyland for many of the old-fashioned playthings our moth ers and lathers used to enjoy when they were children. They have been or are being driven out by the tokens of the more modern times. For Instance the old-fashioned china-headed, paint ed-hair dolls and the wax dolls, and to a large extent the rag dolls, have given way almost entirely to the pretty "mat-faced" dolls with composition, fire-proof beads, real hair and joints, and parts which will not break. The old umplng-acks. the old-style magic lantern, old-fashioned wood building blocks and many others of the in habitants of toyland since the Christ mas habit was young, have been placed on the taboo list. In their places are modern stone building blocks, movlng-plcture machines, mod ern birds that fly. monkeys that climb, dogs that walk and bears that perform on the trapeze. The little old Iron train with station ary wheels is rapidly losing out in the race against the modern toy trains with graceful cars, powerful steam and electric engines, substan tial track.' electric headlights, crossovers, bridges and semaphores. The play banks In which our parents used to drop their pennies when they were young have given way to modern depositories which register the amount deposited and open automatically when the bank becomes filled. The old fashioned fire engines have been fitted up with modern throttles and engines for pumping water. Aeroplanes and monoplanes which actually fly have taken the greater part of the space formerly occupied by the flimsy looking airship arrangements that flew on sus pended strings; play dishes have been produced In finished china and torpedo boats, submarine boats, fire boats and warships which actually operate and perform the tricks of real boats, have taken the place of the wooden make believes that used to head the list. Ducks have been made to swim and dive, tin fish to swim gracefully under water, dogs to bark, walk and wag their tails; Noah's arks have been modernised; dolls have been made to look more human, play furniture has been produced In old French styles and Is replacing the common stock. In short the entire of Toyland has been revolutionized by the invasion of the great wave of modernism. Twya Are Made Srraagen A noticeable feature of the market this Christmas Is the quality of toys displayed. There seems to hsve been aa attempt made by manufacturers during the year to eliminate flimsy playthings which go to pieces about the time the child gets Interested In them. Wooden toys which in the past have been held together with slight applica tions of glue have been turned out this year with tacks to help the glue C - - -mm Y 4 .at m i hold them together. This Is true even on the cheapest of toy counters. The general trend seems to be to turn out substantial toys, which Improvement promises to eliminate many ahildlsh tears this Christmas. In animal circles there have been made a number of remarkable onanges. Where the counters used to be oc cupied exclusively by animals made of cloth or paper mache wltn little regard paid to looks, there are now perfectly formed animals msde of plush which look for all the world like real animals. Tou almost expect some of the dogs to bark and the cats to meow. And some of them will. If you pull a string Bears as large as the real bears you see In cages are Included In the collections of push animals. By pulling a string the big bruin gives a deep fierce growl. The toys such as bears. deer, horses, cows, lions, tigers and elephants are made to hold aa much as 350 pounds weight. In all these ani mals the most minute details in ex nression have been worked out. For merly the plush creatures were freaks and hybrids In toyland now they are the members of the animal "too." In the new novelties this year there probably Is none more unique than a mechanical fish which actually swims under water. They come in the form ef carp and trout By winding a but ton on the fish's back he is provided with motive Dower which causes him to swim gracefully about a tank. It would be hard to distinguish between the toy and a real fish if the two were placed together under water. Another nov elty along the same line is a torpedo boat several Inches In height which moves along the surface of the water until a soring is moved, when it dives down gracefully and stays under water until it runs down. A toy nreDoai which runs by Itself and . squirts a stream of water as it moves Is some thing new. Then there is a gunboat which actually shoots caps and wads. These are all made of metal and are so constructed that they float properly. Animals of All Sorts. The political field has not been over looked this year. On hand in the toy departments are the usual forms of elephants, donkeys and roosters with numerous kinds of Improvements, In cluding new varieties of hair, tusks, eyes, ears and general features. Not least prominent among the politic.! animals is the bull moose, which com mands a place near the front in all plush animal circles. Also is found s strange looking hybrid a cross be tween a Teddy bear and a bull moose Be has a teddy bear body and a bull moose head. In evidence also are small models of President Taft with "the smile that won't come off" a.nd of Roosevelt with his bandana and of Wilson with his school books. Many of these late creations are from Germany where a large part of the plush animals Of the world are produced. Of the educational playthings this year there are many novelties, among them being painting outfits with direc tions for producing excellent pastel paintings. The making of these entails considerable work, skill and thinking. The toy la especially for kindergarten children. Other novelties are basket making outfits in which colored straw and forms are all prepared for weaving together by ohildren; steel working outfits in which the steel Is all ready to place together In constructing steal bridges, derricks and frames for build lnga, and aeroplane outfits in which, all the parts for small aeroplanes are fur nished along with instructions far placing them together. These play things are all new and In line with the general trend of toyland toward the practical. Nav-ltl- in Dolls. The latest thing in dolls Is called the "character doll." These are de signed after the faces of babies and small girls, the ayes and ether features being proportionate and the expression being accurate. Some of them on dis play look like real babies, so accur ately Is the expression reproduced. An other novelty in dolls Is the "mat sur face doll. These have a color which is very natural, the glossy, slick finish being eliminated. Small moving picture machine! for use in the home are something new this year. It is possible for a few dollars to get a machine which will throw real motion pictures on a screen. Another novelty in this same line is a post card or photograph projector which throws upon a screen a repro duction of a post card, a picture or sven a clipping 01 a pioture xrom a newspaper or a magaslne. Rapid strides have been taken In thai Isvalopment of play trains. This year1 1 riimm 1 MslSSSBSSSSSSSSISBSBBBBsaSSsV- --f.r v X. S . I If lw l - l "S" r r ' -. -Ls&jfeiv i Hs -: . ' lit' r I ,v y " Ilk f&0fm ' r i v- ? it, . exact models of cars and engines on -pans and towers, buildings of the the Illinois Central and other Eastern modern sort and many other modern lines are found. Boms of these have the windows, the brakebeams, ths wheUs. couplers and other features exactly like those of real trains. On the cars are found actual reproductions of railroad name plates. In the equip ment of ths trains there has been many additions Including new forms of powsrful electric motors, automatic switches and safety appliances. The fata of the common little iron train with stationary wheels is sealed. In the mechanical toy line no article Is more Important than ths steel build, ing frame sets which hove appeared within the last few weeks for the first time. With these It is posslbls to erect complicated steal bridges with, life steel frames. This is the greatest ad vance in the mechanical and educa tional line. New In the amusement playthings , are play sohoolhouses, grocery stores and houses. These come In seotlons and can be taken down. They are large enough for children to play in. Noticeable this year also are newly-Improved stilts tor boys snd wild West costumes. It would be dif ficult to enumerate all the new thlnga l.onjc Trip to Toy Buyer. In the toy business there is no busier person than the man who goes out for. the big department stores and makes purchases of toys In the markets of the world. His life is one of troubles owing to the great advancement of ilie toy business and the uncertainty about what to purchase for the chil dren at home. Ths average toy buyer for a department store spends about three months in Europe eaoh year selecting toys and playthings. He starts soon after January 1 and goes direct to 1ondon, where he looks over the market of meohanical toys and makes hlB purchases. He purchases bows and arrows, tin soldiers, English games and other forms of toys, mostly of the mechanical and educational class, which are made in London and there abouts. Finishing there, he goes to Berlin, where he finds woolly animals, tree toys and some of the games not obtainable In America. From there he generally goes 'to the Thuringla dis trict of which Sonneberg is the prin cipal city, and there gets a big supply of all kinds of toys mechanical, edu cational, artistic and Instructive. In Bonneberg 10,000 laboring people are supported by the toy Industry. The fathers and grandfathers of persons now engaged in the Industry were toy makers. Firms have been handed down from father to son for 100 years or more. From there the buyer goes Into the Thuringla Mountains to Lauscha, where the world's supply of glass orna. ments are manufactured and where also , ths supply of glass ornaments are pur chased. In this part of Germany the work is done by families, each separ ate family being a factory by Itself. The father blows the glass from tubes and passes the ornament down to the mother, who does her particular work, and hands It down to one of the chil dren. In ornaments the mother places fish skin Inside ths glass and dips it in water to give the silver appearance, and the child palqts the ornaments with flowers. Anions the Toymakers. In the same district is found ths glass marble Industry. Here are found the poorest-paid laborers In the world. A man sits by the hour and cuts mar bles from glass tor a salary of about IT.B0 a week. Seventy-five per cent of the glass eyes used in dolls are pro duced here. Glass eyes for humans are also made here. From here the buyer after making his purchases of glass goods goes to llpsig, where he attends the annual "Messe" or toy 'Show. This opens on MondaTy and closes the following Sat urday. On display are the toys made by 10,000 German and French manufac turers. It is here that the buyer makes the larger part of his purchases. At this exhibition the various manufac turers show their latest novelties and the buyers select the toys which are to be new on Christmas, seven or eight months later. The Lelpslg display hall covers two blocks. It takes a toy buyer the entire week to go through the place and inspect everything. From here he goes to Paris, where he buys more mechanical toys such as aeroplanes snd new-fangled fire en gines. He also selects his supply of paints hero. From Paris he goes to Vienna and selects box toys of wood and light metal toys of various kinds. After .completing the rounds he re turns home and begins getting ready for his Christmas trads. Months be fore Christmas time the toys from Europe begin to pile in to the stores and the buyers get them ready for dis play and sale. Toys Depict Modera Life, Toy manufacturing Is among the im portant Industries of the world. Hun dreds of thousands of persons repre senting almost all nationalities are en gaged in ths business and millions up on millions of dollars are paid annually for salaries. Hundreds of skilled me chanics and artisans devote their en tire time to inventing new novelties to conform to epoohs and happenings of note in world progress. So strong haa become the competition now that there is hardlv a (Treat event or move that is not soon after Its starting repre sented in toyland with some unique em blem for the amusement of children. The United States Is not a toy manu facturing country as yet but it prom ises to be in time to come. At present thin eountrv produces the greater part of the heavy wooden and Iron toys and a large part of the games, but outside of that little is done. This year for the first time there is a noticeable In crease in the number or American- made toys. Maybe some day Portland s toyland will be inhabited exclusively by American-made toys. Toy buyers say the time is coming. MIRTH MANUFACTURER (CONTINUED FROM PAGE THOKX.) had the strength of misery In It But even as it was Issuing from his lungs and lips. It came Into collision with the thought of Snoop. The result was a creaking cackle, that so far as the audience was concerned, shared hon ors with the story. Dud could see Mr. Prlnkle peering through the dusk In his direction, and as his employ er's face caught the ray of the read ing lamp it seemed as if a twitching smile passed over it The lecturer was coming to the conclusion that Dud was "trying it on ths dog." The lecture was about half ever when Mr. Prlnkle began a story about a dog who was seen neiping along another dog whose leg had been brok en. Dud. casting nui eyes on tne screen, saw pictured thereon the in cident, the hurt dog being cruelly like Snoop. This was the last drop in poor dm i out of sorrow, wnicn proceeaea to overflow like a babbling fount Cover ing his face with his hands, he sobbed aloud, while the hot tears trickled be tween his fingers. Mr. Prlnkle paused for a moment hesitated, and attempted to go on again, but Dud's sob had dons its work. From around and be hind and In front of him. arose sobs also, while scores jt handkerchiefs be gan to dab at wet eyes, evidently there were a whole lot of people in the audience who had lost pet dogs, and who were In sympathy with the weeping, walling Dud. Just how tne balance of the evening oassed. Dud never quite knew. He was conscious. In a hazy way, of laughing at times, and he knew, too, that the lecture had been a suocess. One thing stood out prominently through the mist f his sorrow and distress, and that was the certainty of his dismissal Knowing Mr. Prlnkle aa he did. Dud didn't doubt for a moment but that bis burst of sorrow meant his Immedi ate discharge, and he ruefully reflected that this would mean the annihilation of his bright future. It was pretty herd, he reflected, to lose Snoop and his job in one evening. Dud walked slowly to the hotel. Ar riving there he found a message await ing him from Mr. Prlnkle, who wanted to see him In his room Immediately. Dud, with a sigh and a sinking heart obeyed. Somewhat to his astonishment Mr. Prlnkle seemed to be In a very good humor. "Sit down. Dud." he said. "I want to talk to you about what happened at the lecture tonight." Dud took the proffered seat, but spoke not wishing that Mr. Prlnkle would put him out of his growing agony as soon as possible. "I did not know before, Dud." began Mr. Prlnkle slowly, "that you were such a capital actor. That sobbing of yours was most realistic More than that It was a perfect Inspiration, an entirely proper Innovation under the oircumstances. It did more for the lecture than any amount of laughter could have done. By the way, your laughs tonight Were capital. The committee tells ms that I, or rather we, so touched the hearts of the audi ence that the latter responded most liberally in a financial sense. And I don't mind admitting that much of the credit of tne success of the lec ture belongs to you. Take this 110 bill as a small token of my apprecia tion of your clever Interest In your work. We will add a few patbetlo leo- tures to the series. Dud." (Copyright, the Frank a. aiunsey vevi