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Blueprint For Toyland In Modern Christmas VORKE HENDERSON It hasn't C crest for , could it be bettered? extended, the whole surmounting |elfin hammer that tried tapping at many small girls can haul on the that built one of Britain's bigger money-ed article will doubtless be subject. spinners -- the world's greatest, most thriving, toy industry. Maybe it's good for the balance sheets. But when big - business moved in on Toyland it was "good- bye" to the old magic. In these high-powered times any some childish bauble would get been registered at the fhe legend, 'Ma,' gimme that for |short shrift. Before vou could Say 'Britain's toy - makers, "Saint Nicholas" a shop - steward For on that piping heart-cry and (would "be breathing heavily down udgy finger stabbing at a the "A hand dexter with forefinger | tinsel-hung shop window has been to know if he was paid-up with hammerer's neck and wanting (So far science has failed to pro- duce an instrument which indicates a work-weary Dad's reactions to putting an unwary foot on a hidden roller-skate.) Any qualified toy-tester can tell you almost without thinking how arms of a teddy - bear before it comes apart. Santa Claus's sack has given way to relentless conveyor belts whisk- the ing along the smooth, shiny, super- tested toys, guaranteed to spread delight but no germs. But all of this huge, breath- taking edifice of industry stands or falls by the whims of the world's whipper-snappers. (Last year alone export toys brought 4,000,000 pounds into the British kitty, the pre- apan's toy in- the American mar- ,000.) Will the kids take to it? That's the motto haunting manufacturers and designers alike the year round. And what determines childish '|taste? Day-to-day events, say the "On that piping heartcry and | tinsel-hung factory window has | gest money spinners." been built one of the world's big- that pudgy finger stabbing at a Ne Snow, no holly, no elfin hammers. But all the bustle, glare, assembly efficiency of the Stacks of 'lovable, fluffy, labor- atory-tested teddy-bears. Before the final tweak is given to the Federated Gnomes and Associated Fairies Union. Poor old Santa Claus's workshop would last about two minutes under the hard-eyed scrutiny of any self- respecting Factories Inspector. And that goes for Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer if he gets in the way of Ml | some airline freighter carrying ex- port-only toys. So, if you have old illusions that { need shattering, just wheel them i along to any large, air-conditioned, ® | super-efficient British toy factory +1 though, the business barons, BE | [osly | one afternoon. If the old magic has disappeared, ive || them their due, have injected a new sort of magic into toy-making: The magic of precision engineering, laboratory experiments, scientific testing, ruthless efficiency and split - second reaction to market changes. Christmas is coming and the ® | public, that big fat goose, is getting to lay its annual golden egg. Ruddy-faced gents -- how do they £3 | spend. the rest of the year? -- are ®S% | preparing to stuff pillows under real thing to keep the world's toy- shops stocked. their belts, disappear behind cotton- wool whiskers and become the once-a-year legion of 5-pound-a- | week Santa lauses. The fairy | lights and tinsel are coming out of "| cold storage. But don't let it kid you. It's just a front, a concession to the old magic, by the big-time toymakers who have been busy since las De- cember 27 -- even business men put their feet up on Christmas and Boxing Day -- gétting ready for the public's mid-winter splurge. . Toy-making is big business all the year round with up to the minute efficiency the key-note. The chief of one Britain's biggest manufacturers can boast that his machine-press and. plastic sections can- equal, if not better, anything | like them in the country. 8": | juvenile fancy. satin bows research workers have tested each product to see just how many little girls can pull each arm before it comes gpart. We look forward each year to sharing with our many friends the brightness and good will of the holiday season. C. F. MESHER JEWELLER WH ITBY In one plant on the outskirts of London, something like 150 design- ers and development research ex- | perts bend their minds, eight hours | a day, to the tricky task of tickling undreds of ma- | chine-operators work full time | translating the drawing - board dreams into marketable realities. Between the designer's office and the machine-shops the toys pass through the testing laboratories, where the latest in scientific equip. ment simulates the pummelling, kicking, siting-on, standing-on and | huffy heayings to which the finish- | | manufacturers. Take model aircraft, for instance. One of Britain's biggest toy-makers has been turning out models of Hawker Hunter jet aircraft for several months. y rolled off the produstion line in all the shades ikely to be affected by their real- life counterparts. But Squadron- Leader Neville Duke had to go and break the world's air speed record in a bright red Hunter. The manufacturer didn't have to wait to be told. As news of the record-smashing attempt hit the headlines he was on the phone to the finishing department ordering, "From now on, all Hawker Hunters in red only." , The small-fry are discriminating. They want pintsise replicas of the real - life things they see about them. And any manufacturer who doesn't give them what they want can tell story to the bankruptcy court. Economists with a psychological bent ht care to speculate about how it is that Britain can so suc- cessfully satisfy the wants of in- ternational infancy. Maybe the na- tion that produced Peter Pan has, itself, some unaware kinship with that eternal' spirit. Youth calls to youth, and all that. They might care to spare a thought, too, about whether the manufacturers or the kids them- selves drove the magic out of toys. For the youngsters are as hard- | headed and realistic as the indus- | try itself. If a boy wants a toy automobile he wants it to look exactly like the real thing -- and not just vaguely TOYLAND (Continued on Page 6) J. H. COLLARD Regal Stationery Agent PHONE 2603 -- WHITBY Another assembly line . . model jet-fighter planes, power- ed by tiny inertia motors, get a . scale final test before packing in a British factory. OF haut Chitin Gods thi AGNEW-SURPASS SHOE STORES 122 Brock Street South WHITBY THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE, Wednesday, December 38, 1908 © Toothpick Stunts For Christmas' I'third toothpick to the outer side {of the first toothpick. The position of the middle toothpick is changed.) Christmas comes but once a mak year; so why hi away and write off another big Christmas dinner? It 1s best to prol the merry oc- casion by some afternoon enter- nt. Let's start with a few toothpick stunts. Place three toothpicks in a row: Can anyone change the position of 'the middle toothpick without touching it? (Move 'y he Hornbar Motors Limited Bright glow of Christmes candles selected in all ows hears and im the warm, hedrey wishes we exvend © you to express our -deep thanks end appreciation of yous fricadship. CARR'S SUNOCO SERVICE STATION 132 Brock Street North WHITBY