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Show i i i . PKOGIUKSSIYB OI'IIVMOIV The Early Shopper Gets the There Aren't Enough for Everybody Toy-s-r l $ ,! I"'''-- ' k Stock of Playthings Is Larger Than Last Year, but Still Short Eager-eye- d kiddies will have to be content with about half as many toys this year as they used to get' before the war, when they come dashing in to the parlor on Christmas morning. As everybody knows, all kinds of civilian goods are scarce, including toys. It's a wonder, in fact, that there are any toys on the market, in the midst of a great war. Both toy factories and toy mak-ers are busy making war materials percussion caps for torpedoes and shells, gas masks, and a thousand other things. They make toys out of scraps and leftovers, and substi-tutes like wood and pasteboard. But at best they couldn't make nearly enough to satisfy everybody this year. Wjth wartime prosperity putting money into everyone's pocket, fa-thers and mothers, uncles, aunts and cousins have a good deal to spend on presents for the children in their families. But they can't buy all they want to, because there just aren't enough toys in the stores to go around. Besides this, there are two million more youngsters in the country than usual a result of the rising birth rate of the war years. ' Few Metal Playthings. Metal toys will be represented by a few articles, but in general steel . and iron playthings will be missing. Wooden playthings like blocks are not so hard to get, but it's still , good Idea to shop early. A record-breakin- g demand for toys of all sorts is anticipated, and many children are going to be disappointed, be. cause of shortages. utensils are being offered, and tiny furniture can be had. Hobby sets, such as chemistry out-fits, are in "fair supply," manufac-turers say. Apparatus made of glass, porcelain, plastics, wood or pasteboard is being substituted for metal articles. For instance, a mi-croscope included in some of the science sets has a plastic tube and base. A survey of the toy supply situa-tion conducted by the Toy Manu-facturers ef the U.S.A. reveals such shortages as these: Less than 15 per cent of the nor-mal supply of sleds with steel run-ners will be on sale. Sleds with wooden runners will be fairly plenti- - toy lines, these companies wete enabled to handle their war more efficiently, because they could operate their entire plant at near capacity. Another organization busily at work on the toy situation is the O-ffice of Price Administration. This government agency has to set fair ceiling prices on every toy item that is to be offered for sale. More than 3,000 articles have been e-xamined and priced and many ot-hers are pending a decision. In i big warehouse in Washington 0PA officials look over samples of all sorts of things many of them new to the market, such as transparent plastic ducks and giraffes, wooden telephone sets, and pasteboard dolls. It's a big job to put fair price tags on all these things, but the 0PA hopes to complete its task before Christmas. ft' - f J I ? ' , A f - ? t ; i . y S S !? 5!S ji.i..n, rm,rim.vmlMn., - v ,,,,.. J Planes and tanks and siege guns naturally dominate the childish mind In these war years. These models of fighting machines are made of wood and cardboard. They are simple but sturdy. The WAC uniform the little girl wears is a novelty this year. d sleds, tricycles and bicycles, coaster wagons, construc-tion sets, and a thousand other things will be very scarce. Sotae manufacturers have been able to find left-ov- stocks of metal, fabri-cated before the war restrictions went into effect, and others are us-ing scrap material, so a small quan-tity of metal toys are on the mar-ket. Back in peace times, play-things made of cast iron, steel, cop-per, aluminum and so on, consti-tuted nearly half of all the Christ-mas presents. Toys made of rubber are very rare. So are plastic goods. Tires for doll buggies are being made of "mud" which is residue from re-processed rubber, but these are about the only such articles on the market. Wood is being used to make lots of things formerly made of metal and other scarce materials. There are trucks, for instance, of polished hardwood on sale. Tanks and siege guns, battleships, steam shovels and many other mechanical toys are made largely of wood, with a few metal parts. Cardboard and wood combinations are also numerous, particularly in the 'games division. A cardboard and wooden circus is a favorite this year. Enough Dolls and Teddy Bears. Girls are more fortunate than boys this year, for dolls are being turned out in sufficient quantities to meet the demand. There are both hard and soft bodied dolls in the stores, made of everything from cot-ton to porcelain. The fancy models have moveable eyes, curly hair, pretty dresses and all the other trimmings. Stuffed animals are on hand in sufficient numbers to take care of ordinary demands. Teddy bears are plentiful, it is said. Carriages for dolls are offered to early Christmas shoppers, at least, since there are 100,000 buggies on sale throughout the country. These are made of wood, with metal wheels. Doll dishes, of china and scrap plastic, and cast-iro- n cooking ful, but all in all, the total number of sleds available will be less than before the war. While no electric trains are being manufactured, there will be some trackage offered for replacements, for those boys who got a train set years ago. Some metal construc-tion sets are offered. About 10,000 of these have electric motors in-cluded. There are a good many wooden sets on the market. No elec-tric lights for Christmas trees are being made, but a few are on hand from last year. No Autos or Bicycles. Wagons with wooden wheels are fairly plentiful, and there are some with metal wheels. No metal toy autos or cycles or any such vehicles are offered. A few scooters, made from scrap steel, can be had. In some cities a small dumber of second-han- d bicycles and other wheeled toys are on sale These generally have been repaired and repainted. Blown glass balls for Christmas tree ornaments can be bought read-ily, but tinsel, excepting lead foil is off the market, and certain other or- naments and decorations are scarce or unobtainable. Better Goods This Tear. The Toy Manufacturers state that a higher quality of wood and paste- board toys is being offered this year explaining that experience has en- abled makers to do a better job now. Many companies have sprung lately that were not in the toy busi- ness before the war, and some of these have had little production ex-perience, so there is bound to be some poorly made articles on the market. Skilled toy makers, too are working in war plants in many cases, so the toy factories have had to get along with partly skilled la-bor, many of whom are over-ag- e or disabled. More than 200 of the largest toy manufacturing plants are turning out war materials in the main, and are making toys on the side. By maintaining some volume in their Jg y SWK.. EVEN CM 'fWP EpE GOT TO BrfCt'C r j yi:s ' ''A vl y;:W "l ' III SLJV 1 I ''''J jr.. r;; "K? S. ' I I,, M , J I t ' ryes, joe--we've sru --MP ffEXi's zwrkmm ro cosrAWRE mw tet y vj ITS simple arithmetic. More That's what is going to war now. . i""! "Jl 1 Fortresses that cost $600,000 MMU j each in War Bonds. More So siB" up for ex,ra War Bonds on Thun- - derbolts that cost $50,000 each. More ,he Payro11 PIan- - Welcome the Vic- - AZ amphibious tanks! More aircraft car- - t0IT Volunteer when he or she calls ' 4 riers! More gasoline and oil than it at your home. Co to your bank or t. took for the invasion of Europe! Bond booth. For final Victory for . t C! Over seven billion dollars a month! your own future security . . . f ? BUY AT LEAST OUS ETflA $100 OOUD CONTRIBUTED BY MR, AND MRS. C. N. LUND f TRAINED SHOP MECHANICS 4 ARE THE "DOCTORS" WHO GIVE NEW LIFE TO POWER THAT MOVES AMERICA AT WAR. WSL? "'; ' 1J IjD G Q) . I lit: A ' xVjiV" ' 91 i t - iff'i - , " it 44w i : W ' k ' ' "1869 - -- LM-IL)r- 1 "1344 z Diatom aNKiVEStsmcr THE RAILR0AD1 AilE 13 E BRCK0QPJE OF OFFENSE LISTEN TO "YOUR AMERICA" ON YOUR FAVORITE MUTUAL STATION EVERY SUNDAY 2 P. M. MOUNTAIN WAR TIME Lights of New York by L. L. STEVENSON One of the problems of the New York theater is tThe usual curtain time is 8:40. It sel dom goes up at the time advertised. The delay ranges from 5 to 15 min-utes. Yet no matter how long it is held, there are always those who j come in after the first act is well along. That is true with hit shows as well as those not in that class. The assumption would be that those who pay $3.60 or even $4.80 for a seat would want to occupy it as long as possible. The reverse seems to be true the higher priced seats are not filled nearly as quickly as those that cost less. Attempts have been made to cure tardiness by not seat-ing late arrivals until the end of a scene. That merely means a rush period for the ushers. It also means a lot of confusion in the back of the theater to the consequent discomfort of those in the rear seats. It may be only imagination on the . part of one who likes to be in his seat long enough before the curtain rises so he can read the cast and the scenes, but it seems as though the late comers always have seats well down in front and in the middle of a row. Thus a lot of people have to arise and have their toes trampled which of course discom- - modes them and in turn discom-modes those behind because their view is shut off. By the time the tardy ones have settled down and the actors can again be seen and heard, the illusion is completely dispelled. The worst of it is that those who cause the trouble do not seem to care at all. In too many instances, instead of sneaking in quietly, they enter with a clatter of conversation which does not always die out after they have been seated. ' Late pests are bad enough on ordi-nary nights. They are still worse on opening nights. A lot of New York-ers, it seems, attend theater first nights not to see but to be seen. One of the surest ways to attract atten-tion is to barge down the aisle after the lights have been dimmed and the opening lines spoken. Naturally heads turn in the direction of the intruders and naturally there is a question as to their identity. If they happen to be celebrities, 'Or even some erstwhile movie stars, names are lipped about the theater and the people on the stage are thus forced to carry on against unfair competi- - I tion. As for those who have come I because they are interested in the j .. play, they don't seem to count at all. Members of "Cafe society" add to the general delight by greeting friends on their way to their seats or by arising and calling to them-afte-they have been seated, j.' I Another grievance against late comers is that as they grope their way along the row, they knock hats from the racks under the seats or cause the owner to do the same thing. There is no difference in re-sults In either case the owner has to paw around until he finds his headgear and all too often, it has been kicked about until it has to go to the cleaners. That's an item in it-self. Hat cleaners have imposed a 30 per cent tax on their patrons. That is, while it used to cost 50 cents to have a hat cleaned, the charge is now 65 cents. I'm still in favor of a collapsible hat that can be thrust into the coat pocket when not being worn. ' Not only would it escape damage in the theater but there is also the matter of check-ing and in New York, the cost of checking one's lid night after night runs into real money. Other than sheer exhibitionism, one of the reasons for late theater arrivals is New York's dining habits. New Yorkers who frequent the smart spots like to linger over their cocktails. That of course means that they start their dinners late. Some hotels and restaurants have a spe-cial theater service, the diner tell-- . ing the name of,the play which he is to see and the dinner being speeded up in accordance with the curtain time. But New Yorkers like to linger over their food just as they do over their drinks. And it doesn't seem to make any differ-ence at all if they do miss most of a first act, no matter what they may have paid for their tickets or how much discomfort they cause others. TrafJfic conditions are another cause of theater lateness. With war time restrictions on the gasoline sup-ply, private cars are not used for theater going. Those who can afford high-price- d seats as a rule do not want to go to them in the subway. And there just simply aren't enough taxis in good weather to say nothing of rainy nights. So what with one thing and another I guess there isn't any hope for those who like to see a play without being disturbed. Bel Syndicate. WNU Features. FOLKS GATHER 'ROUND FOR PARLOR GAMES Games that all the family can e-njoy together take the spotlight in Santa Claus' 1944 pack. Catering to the wartime necessity to "stay at home and like it," a variety of quick action parlor sports are ready to help the juvenile and grown-u- p contingents forget about limitations on the family car and relax from worries and responsibi-lities. Revivals of old favorites that were crazes in the horse and buggy age head the list of escape-typ- e games that will be relatively abundant in t season when Santa Claus' Yuletide pack is short of a great number of familiar play materials. While great numbers of games are being sent to servicemen overseas, there are some left for the home market Among the parlor pastimes back in favor are ROOK, PIT and FLINCH. But MONOPOLY, the real estate trading game, continues to hold craze honors. FINANCE is another of the robber baron spec-ulation games that appeal to both families and service men as a ha-ppy escape. SORRY, the English board game that won top favor during the Blitz, is another best seller this winter with American families. For arm chair strategists there are game inventions inspired by the i 1 ! i "Monopoly." the classic " estate trading game, is still u vorite with family Christmas. exploits of America's armed fors CAMELOT, the lively battle e is a favorite with service meD has a large family foUowine. ' Some of the Christmas games be a helpful adjunct to speUitf, well as arithmetic. DIG, ' lined g game tn miniature gold miner's P'cK sticky tips to grab the WW opportunity for keen compete" incidentally inspires Jun'or..ico prove. CROSSWORD based on four-lette- r words buii cards, is another spelling ga" i provides good competition ages. Day's End Finds First Aid Room Is Busiest WASHINGTON, D. C. The first aid room at national OPA headquarters stays open until 5:40 every afternoon, although the rest of the offices close at 5:30. A pretty nurse explained: "We have to stay on a few min-utes longer to patch up the ones who get knocked down the stairs trying to get out of here at 5:30." Among the playthings available this year that were unobtainable last year are cast-iro-n cooking ntensils for dolls. This three-piec- e set will retail for about a dollar. There is some swing away from the armament theme in toyland this year. Construction machinery has regained some of its former posi- tion. This good-size- d steam shovel with moveable boom will sell at about $3.95. The dump truck, made of hardrock maple and smoothly finished, is priced at $5.00. " ' x . |