OCR Text |
Show Santa's Coming Despite the War Retail Sales Expected to Run Over $209,000,000, Say Toy Makers. Although frustrated by an expanding demand for toys and games, and a severe contraction con-traction of materials and help, Santa Claus is not going to let the Juniors down this year despite rumors to the contrary. con-trary. Like a good actor, who upon losing his old props improvises im-provises new ones, Santa is going to bull his act through, but in such a professional manner, few will suspect his backstage strain. This is the consensus of toy and game manufacturers and distributors distribu-tors in Chicago's Merchandise Mart, who help set the stage for the annual event. Wrestling with a 20 per cent upturn up-turn in ahead-of-season demand lor toys and games, so lar this year as against the comparable period in 1942, they say chances are excellent excel-lent that sales at retail will run slightly better than 200 million dollars, dol-lars, or approximately 10 per cent under last year's total. It demand were the measuring rod, sales would zoom way above the record quarter billion mark set in 1929, it was explained. ex-plained. Speaking or the toy and game group, John C. Goodall, general manager of the Mart, said: "Holding "Hold-ing sales at this level is a highly creditable job when it is considered the industry has had to find alternate alter-nate merchandise for such toy items as metal wheel goods, electric trains and mechanical toys, now discontinued, discontin-ued, but responsible before the war for 60 million dollars of the total annual toy and game business. Quick Sales Cut Stock. "Contributing to the developing toy stringency is the quick sale, early in the year, of carry-over stock and the public's disposition to strip dealers' shelves of toy items immediately imme-diately on exposure regardless of the season. Related factors include heavy buying by war factory mothers, moth-ers, who seek to compensate with toys and games for their absence from home, and, of course, with swollen pocket books. "The progressively tightening situation situ-ation in manpower and materials is forcing somemanuf acturers to launch new lines of toys or revive old ones, requiring the minimum amount of materials. Like limited editions of books, these are quickly snapped up by toy-hungry retailers; hence a continual stream of improvisations is coming on the market. These and scores of new type games made of cardboard and paper will relieve serious shortages and maintain the industry in a relatively healthy con- dition," Mr. Goodall said. Military slanted toys and games continue to dominate the field. Among such items are self propelled pro-pelled caterpillar tread tanks, steered by handle bar in their revolving re-volving gun turrets. Built for small children, the tanks are made en-, en-, tirely of wood except for fiber materials ma-terials on caterpillar units. The tanks are equipped with gadgets which simulate noise of firing. The newer types of toy machine and submachine sub-machine guns are similarly equipped and some fire wooden bullets. Indicative of the growing popularity popu-larity of miniature airplane models, mod-els, many toy railroad hobbyists are switching over into this field, since metal train equipment is out. It is estimated that there are 250,000 model railroadists while the number num-ber of airplane hobbyists already is above 400,000. There is a new emphasis on children's chil-dren's gift items of the patriotic and educational type. Typical are sets of paper figures, which come flat and may be assembled to form correctly outfitted service men and women in three dimensional form. Toy items now in a revival period, pe-riod, according to exhibitors, are slates, pull toys and wagons, jig saw puzzles and washable dolls. The fancy pre-war type doll is hard to find since shortages exist in more than a dozen components that went into it. These include glue, hair, glycerine, wire, enamel, silk, rayon, rubber and moving eyes. |