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Toys that Tickled the Tots. Before the Days of Santa Claus
(Copyright. m. by T. C. McClure.) because the children are more sophisticated first thought In taking up the toys would were played without toys
rci
HlMiREN'S toys In this year of still, and prefer the little automobiles and be of the mother heart or old Kgypt mai
grace are so elaborate that good the performing gentlemen who cost $200 or pined to keep her darlings ptaytnings in
old-fashioned folk are filled with $300.
amazement, and make up their uut today's collection of millionaire live
minds that the llttlo people of 8t0ck has some reason for putting on airs.
today are of a brand different from those
of the last generation. On tho surface
they are quite right, too. It does look as
If tho modern child was essentially differ
ent from his brother of years ago, but
tho difference Is largely superficial
remembrance, but gave them up that, the
little one might have something to bear It
company on the long Journey that even tiny
feet must travel alone.
These findings In tiny graves of the past
show that children of the Pharoahs bad a
Their family tree Is ever so many thousands
of years old. It can be traced back as
rlenrlv n need he for fortv lonir centuries.
Never were children's toys so elaborate pretty good time of it In the matter of
as today. One would think that the light of toys. There were dolls, of course, for the
fancy had one out tn everv childish brain RlnK and quite elaborate ones, painted
Tho toys of today are elnborate, but they Bnil ,hn, nn,hin-. , .hanlutelv obvious gaily, with movable Joints and brlgM
are. Just tho same kind of toys that have coull, by ny chHnce appeai , the childish clothing. They could not make the few
always delighted children. Every boy and ,,., rhn ni,i.fnshloned hrand of in- Pithy remarks which are the stock In trade
funt which sought out a stick or old bottle
and "loved" It energetically all day is at a
dlscouut now. Her dolls come very near to
polite conversation In French and German.
As for the boys, they can learn a trade
girl who labors today to Indite a fine, clear
letter to Santa Claus wants Just about
what every other boy and girls wants.
What In mere, each wants JuRt the same
things that boys and girls always have
wanted. The Idea of th" toy remains today
essentially what It was when tho first affec
tionate cave man took the baby on his knee
and hacked away at a bit of wood for its
edification. There is proof a-plenty of this,
rescued from the depths of tho earth each
year.
The adult's life of today Is little enough
like that of even 100 years ago. A worthy
gentleman of the powdered queue period
would feel utterly at a hws in any club of
any city, bereft of snuffbox, finding few men
of tho "four-bottle" variety, forbidden to
defend his honor with the sword, wholly
out ef touch with tho conversation about
stocks and bonds and strikes.
Ilut take a child not of 100. or of 1.000,
but of 2.000. or 3,000 or 4.000 years ago.
and there would be Binall hiatus between
him and the llttlo ones of tho modern
nursery. Their games, their toys, even
their fairy storlej. would seem to hlra
quite like those that amused him before
the Death Angel carried hlra away from
of expensive dolls of this age. but they
were fine lad'.es, for all that.
And as for their wardrobes, they were
very complete. They had chairs and mir
rors, such as they were, and bedsteads of
from the automatic toys that Santa Claus elaborate pattern, and sedan chairs to take
the air In, and, crowning glory, lackeys io
carry them on their excursions. This Is
doing pretty well for any age, and there Is
no doubt that the children of the rharoahs
were better off than most children of only
a few hundred years ago, so far as toys
went.
Little boys played with boats and me
chanical toys, thousands of years past. Just
as they do now. Tho boats were cut out
of wood or stone, and often were large and
daborate.
The mechanical toys are' thrown into
deep shadow by those of the present day,
they served their purpose very wen.
will put In their stockings If he has money
enough.
ltut In spite of appearances, fashions In
garni and toys are the only fashions which
remain the same forever. Today's fashions
may share the modern tendency towards
complexity, but th" principle of them all
Is unchanging. From the tombs of Egypt
they dig today playthings which, recov
ered with gay paint, might pass unnoticed
nuong a twentieth century child's belong
ings. And when children grow tired am)
seek their mother's laps with the world
old demand for a story, the-tales the moth
ers tell are strangely like those of old
So many toys are dug up that one might
be tempted to think that time had not
dealt kindly with children in building
school houses and printing books, If it
were not for a pile of ccsy books as high
as that of playthings. If a dead child must
have his toys. In order not to be lonely
In the "unknown bourne," It was equally
Important that he should carry with hlra
his credentials to show that tn this world
he was a good scholar and carefully taught.
So his papyrus school books went Into the
grave, too. They are Imposing even today.
Halls are often excavated, and it was ap
parently considered great sport to play a
game of ball, each boy sitting on tho
shoulder of some other boy. This com
bination of ball and leap frog would bo
lather strenuous even for football-playing
boys of today.
In ancient Egypt boys of good family had
much to learn. There were two languages
to begin with, the common and the literary,
and then all sorts of mathematical prob
lems had to be solved. The Nile, in over
flowing its banks, obliterated landmarks,
and land surveyings was a very necessary
part of a boy's schooling.
Geometry and astronomy wire taught to
every boy at an early age, and if he did
not learn there was a supple rod In wait
ing for him.
In learning to write, then as now. the
children copied wise sayings and stories.
One of the maxims to copy which must
. v,...,, ni.,riu Pnr the the ancient Egyptians nas enauieu us
child, In a world' of change, la eternal. learn all about their little ones' lives
Walk through any of the great toy shops w nen a cnua aiea. ion ago. us spiru, ac
but
t 1 1.1 V. . 1 1 ...1 ri .,.. ft ,1 1. , n nmnn. 4 J s-. I n n .1
centurlea-all alike, whether told under the Animais on wneeis tou.u yu... . . . ..,- ,.-.... , .u. u..y
then as now, ana were iraneu m me an.' pass in luiencss, lor men mou win De
of little Egyptians, who ran to see Moses Hogged. A boy's ears are In his back and a
when he passed down the afreet with his flogging makes him hear." Even these ter-
klnd princess. rible warnings, however, did not prevent
They were well made, tho crocodiles and boys from scribbling all over their copy
lions and birds and still noia up ineir hooks, cneicues ui auimais, anu wnai may
to heads bravely. Inviting comparison
the product of modern toy snops.
In the time of Aristotle there were many
mechanical toys, and one Heron of
andrla before the Christian era had
bti.idow of the young pyramids or under the
thadow of the American school house.
Almost as much Is known of the child
life of two or three thousand years ago as
of that of a century ago. A sweet and
gentle belief that reigned In the hearts of
with
cording to their faith, began another sim
ilar existence, and they who loved the little
rno could not bear to think that In the
Alex-
made
be caricatures of teachers appear on many
a copybook.
Scholars did not always have to copy
maxims, however. Fairy tales were much
in evidence, too. They have a singularly
toys that danced through some contrivance familiar sound. One of the most popular be-
world of shadows their child should have of steam. This was deemed worthy of gins In this way:
nothing to play with. So the weeping
mothers gathered up the favorite toys and
put them in the small graves, there to He
until eager hands, thousands of years later
and you see dolls that cost $200 or $300
Presumably these are bought by someone,
and perhaps they do not spoil the unfortu
nate child's Imagination, and again perhaps
they do. The dolls of the little girls of long
ago were quite as satisfactory to their
young mothers, that Is certain; and these
. - I f 1 ' 1 1 l O t.a nttlv thiir faith-
;ki Th., fmliv itweness is hould break in upon the child's rest and
lUUBUlf "I " " " ' J ....
marked.
ine anuimis ui nm, w, i r i.l., hnilf a ereaf caatle In tho ml.lst nf a
"hsa" and "wee wee" In sure enough vo ces rernaps toe arcnaeoiogisis are so imtrui on.. i ' - , . , J T: i.v T 7 T
but they are only th "ldld toy. become on deciding the exact period to which the and marbles, too. of course All tueae and furnished It with all that was best in
soph st Icated They cost dollar, upon dol- finding, belonged that the human aide of were the delight of some children and the palace, and set keepers 'rr ' uni' '"-
Ur I and I the sun goes down on Christmas the matter doe. not come Into their mind.; found a place In ome graves. Insertions bade the child to go beyond it."
day leaving them unbroken It will be merely but if archaeologi.t. wera women their show how familiar were the games that Doe. not thl. sound like the opening of
many a fairy tale of today, especially that
of the Sleeping Beauty? The Etory f,oes on
to recite how the prince, grown to man
hood, saw and loved a beautiful girl, whom
ho married. They loved each other dearly,
and when the prince went beyond the palace
in the wood the faithful wife kept watch
over him. He is nearly bitten by a serpent,
but she saves him. Then the story breaks
otT.
It would be pleasant to know If tho wife
saved him from all dangers, but, unfortu
nately, the Egyptians' reverence for the
word of the Fates probably gave a different
ending. Besides, before the story ends, the
prince had also seen an 1 loved a dog which
had followed him faithfully for years. The
love between them was so great that the
prince would not part from his four-footed
friend, even though he knew that death
might result. It would be too bad to have
him die from his faithful dog's bite, as per
haps he did, so It Is Just as well that there
is no ending to this story of long ago.
Even a bit of it goes to prove that civili
zation may come and civilization may go,
but childhood will remain the same until
the big ball called earth shrivels up an'.'
goes wandering, a pale 1 1.1 ghost, among
the warm young worl's.
Love Story in Curves
Baltimore Annri'-an: He loved her de
votedly. He was also bow-legged. Both
favts gave him pain at times. He passed it
by with a rueful smile, when she merrily
said that his affliction gave him such .ij
an h 1 ok, and that, after all, he was a
pretty good sort when you got on to his
curve. He bore it patiently when she re
ferred to his walk as a parenthetical prog
ress. But he rebelled and broke the en-
gagement when she called her pet dog'
through the wicket formed by hi. legs.
I may not be so overly ornamental,'
said he, "but I emphatically object to belnf
made useful so unseasonably early in th
game!" f
mention at the time, not Decause mere There was once a King who had no son.
wa. anything strange about mechanical He desired a son and prayed the gods to
toys, but by reason of Its exceptional In- give him one, which was ordered by them,
genulty. The Hathors, or Fates, consult at his birth
There are many set. of checker men in and decided that he shall die by the bite of
take out the plaything, that love bad put ancient tombs, and the game was a favor- a snaKe, a crocoane or a aog. i ne King was
bislde him. Ite In ancient Egypt. "Odd and Even" greatly troubled when he heard this. He
Shop Talk
Baltimore American; Mrs. Gabber And
your husband Is purchasing agent for a wa-
lerDroof house? "
Mrs. Blabber Yes, he doei all the se
lecting and buying of gutta percha, etc.
M ru Huhha T V, . V, 1. 1 . .
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and frequent tripe abroad.
Mrs. Blabber Frequent, but net loqg.
He goes away and rubbers around for a
few weeks at a stretch, and then flies rlgM
back Oh, It', a snap!