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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1973-11-29, Page 15Crossroads w ply booms *your LIsl wei Sooner, Wiaskons Advaoee- Time, soli Moog Torost Chi» deride its recd by z.Slo pal" in Lite"hearthiod iif 11 it wetitero Ontario, Ba*ed on 3.5 readcro lo omen of S.300 homes, Published every week in The Listowel Banner, The Wingliam AdvancemThnes and Th. Mint Forest Confederate by Wenger Bros. Limited. 9 Parents be warned!, The Christmas toybuying dilemma is quickly approach- • ing. Santa found that making toys for children all over the world takes more hands than two, so he hired elves. Even elves need help to make all those presents for tiny tots so they hired the famous elf - helpers, the toy ranufactur- ers; Singe toys are becoming in* creasingly more oomplieated and�therefore more. expensive, You want to make sure that the ones you have under your tree Clartstroas morning are going Store in Listowel says, "T• here are more educational f toys available now than there used to be. Fisher-Price manufac. tureathe best toys in this field, I think, ;and -they seem to be the most popular, -too." Fisher-Price was cited by five of the six stores contacted as the most reputable nnanu- facturer of, toys in the educa- tional Monty Barnard of . Crest -Hardware, Mount Forest said, 41 recommendFisher-Price and Tonka toys We put in a big line of . them this year be- uause 'they , have always eemed to sell the best and. many people T have talked to ay they buy:them because They can trust, the ,toys to be; interesting to the kids, and ate:" "The only thing wrong with, he Fisher-Price line," said oss COMM, "is. that it.gen- rally' cater only to.; children nder twelve years'. of age.": he Listowel =toy dealer also sted,'Tonka' and Ma chbox as ing• "good products". a Be fated, "Tonka is excellent for to. `,held the interest of your s youngstera.. for months to come. With this in Mind, s Crossroads contacted half a . dozen stores' in which the mer- chandise includes .. toys, and • S polled. Day tar Nurseries, In general, the results''sliew that educational toys and .. family games. are the best value, war toys are out, tele - Tit u vision advertisements or toys T are Mistrusted,'' and yes,_ the li cost of toys overall is going up. . be 'Rost Gibson of Stedman'. s SNE'S A SHOWOFF: Ronda Lee McDougall, age 3, of RR 2 Atwgpd, looks as though she wants to do it yourself, but Lori Ann Verbeek, age 5, of RR 1 Listowel puts the donut -shaped ring ‘over the peg for her. After all, Lori. Ann has two years on Ronda. The game is just one of many uscl at the Listowel Day Care Nursery. young boys, and the Matchbox 'series has good,detail and. their toys ':don't break easily. n, They last.". Theilliax Hardware Store in Listowel has had an up- stairs p.stairs toy:departinent for six years. Jack Ripple of the store said,. ",f have . seen. 60 year old people go pp those stairs. to shop'for toys but they wouldn't. go up there for a thing else t could stock the Everyone from 9 to 69 likes buy toys." According to Mr. Rei le , ' Tronas and Fisher-Price seem to sell ' the' best." ; He. thinks the.toy industry in gen- eral is "trying to make a more substantial • toy". He main- tains, "In ,accordance with the price,, l think that toys are better today than a few .years age because of the competi- tion." come on and. tell what the toy' is really like. They use why photography and sound effects and wild music and dramatic narration to sell. you a simple: toy. The toys are Odra inti too much. You're buying ' am image, Hot a toy, when you buy some of . these products.', Supervisor of the Wingharo Day Care Nursery. Mrs. ny- . Larry Lane, thinks. television:. re. toy ads,: are . "terrible". "In to most cases the fay is never. what the advertisers 'blow it up to be.The parents'; 'are drawn in by it just as.much as the kids, whereas,true. educa- tional d - tional toys will "keep ° a child's Mr. Rupple said, 'The 1 coMpanies try *get the mo lifelike toys 'possible. P tables went well last yea whether they will this year not we don't know. 'Fast Change so fast:" In regard to price, Mr. Ba nard stated, '"i don't think th cost of toys has skyrocketed like other , thingS. Actually, dollar‘fOr dollar you're getting oy st ool r, Public 'but are only fooling or them." attention for hours sand last mueli longer than most of the gimmickson, TV." Mrs, Cathie"Rid e. . r.; ..g �vay, .sup ervisor of: the Mount Forest: Day Nursery said ishe' thinks toy advertising on. televiiort "makes the toys more intear, esting than they really ,are, They try:to appeal to. ` the :.' es more' value for your:_mohe than five years agoind a be ter ,quality toy' is being mad LITTLE GIRLS',LIB: .1, With %volumes liberation resulting in the emergence the ."modern Woman", ho has this, primarily adult clitrt- y ate affected the toyS of youn ghis'' under )2 years Old? e Mrs: XtidgewaY,' 'said, ,Murray Stainton of Stain - ton's Hardware Store in Wing - ham claims, "Television pro- motion makes the toy industry more competitive. Many people wouldn't buy a stoy un- less they saw it advertised. The ads ate hyped up to brain- wash the child who gets to the parents. Some of these tele- vision advertised toys are just gimmicks that are a waste of ' money and many are thrown into the attic after the child has used them only a few weeks." Ross Gibson agrees. "The biggpst influence in toy buying in mysopinion, ig the television ad. The toy companies adver- tise 150 different toys or more and if your child doesn't have at least half of them you aren't much of a parent. At least that is what the commercials try to make you believe." Michele Lapierre, super- visor of the Listowel Day Care Centre claims, "Toy manu- facturers advertise toys with too much pizzazz. They don't pc a" wido AeoPe toYs for the The dons, bolo. than before. ever, are made to appeal:to -older girls with the:accent On fashion. I think they relate to the modern doll as a younger friend rather than as.a moth- er, as was the case a few years ago." The nursery supervisor not- ed that dolls do provide the child with the, opportunity to n "learn dressing skills, bat a cuddly doll is still the best." Monty Bennett of Bennett's '4"- 5c to $1.00 Store in Wingham, A said toys for young girls have - changed a lot. "It used to be that they had mainly kitchen h oriented toys. Now they have L miniature store equipment m little =girl in the role of a younger friend and she has no chance to pretend she's the mother,. f doa't know, Inas the popularity of the. newer: dolls reflects a trend towards; popularity of the.teenagers. with the ' younger children, when it used to be . the par- ents." • She added, "The little gels, even. at this young age; realize that Barbie is fancier than any of the other ° dells and they seem to be more attracted by \, that than the 'e tddiy Raggedy Ann types." • Ross Gibson maintains, "The Raggedy Ann :dolls are still big sellers but the gim- mick dolls are more popular." They seem, to•bave to walk or ' talk or, grin ;or something be- fore they interest the child." Monty ° arnard'�s opinion was, "I saiipose the girls'. toys have changed in the last ten years but basically they are the .same. Tea sets° and dolls still sell."• WAR. TOYS: Mrs. Ridgeway told us war toys are novas pop!iar as they. used to be. '"I think they are damaging to a child because they don't know what war is really all about in the first place and so they,: think shoot- ing: .everyone with their toy g is alright. I believe it iin- the wearn.and tlhat innocence later' turns• into carelessness. Toy guns, encourage violence and wedon't have them here at the nursery." "There is one advantage these toys," she added. "Th io give the children exert: because, they will run , .a ump as they see the cowbo n TV do and maybe th couldn't do it as much if th di have - a toy gun as cop. But I think- a ball, omething like that, wo ve them just as much exe ise and fun without enco ging violence." There must be a reason f to popularity of the toy gu bwever. Miss Lapierre of th istowel Day Care Centr aintains that "Little bo rn to want guns. We don't ny them here at the nursery ut t've seen them pretend eir fingers are guns and go ound shooting each other d shouting 'Bang, you're ad'. Some have even made ugh facsimiles from the nstruction--materials we pply•here. So it seems that if ey don't have the toy gun ey will come • up with some - ng„ She said, "Maybe they can't 1p it. They've been brought in a society with violent evision shows and they've heard and seen what goes around the world by watch - the six o'clock news with it parents." Monty Bennett of Wingham Is that the war toy is on the y out, and Monty Barnard Mount forest stated, en we went to the toy w this year we didn't buy a �g in war toys. In other rs we have, but there is not ch demand for them now I think most dealers don't t them anymore because he general attitude of the lie to them now." S GROWNUPS tf: someone asks eit)f Hardware stere,, - 'The second category, man- , ipulative or pattern toys, are puzzles, pegboards, or beads to and are also colorful and very ey substantial, These toys pre- nd "When he has put a puzzle to- ey sense of accomplishment and ey that is very important," said a Mrs. Lane. or Mrs. Ridgeway maintained, uld "I recommend lot of muscle r- and mind buildhng toys like bi- ur- cycles and other equipment for strengthening the body, or and • books and music for - n, strengthening the Mind. The e good toy should have a variety e of uses . and allow the thild's ys imagination to, develop. Toys and appear to be more inter- ested in commerce and fash- Mrs. Larry Lane agreed that the toys for little girls have "changed tremendous- ly". She said "Most girls, even between the agesgof two and five, are getting Barbie dolls. These dolls tend to put the NO WAR TOYS: Mrs. Michelle Stevens, manager of the Mount Forest Canadian TIM Corporation Store, John McKibben) Chad Penwarden, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim th ar an de ro co su th th thi he up tel all on ing the ftle wa of sho yea mu and wan of t pub believe in Canadian Tire's policy of no war toys. Mr. Mc- ' KUM says "The Canadian Tire Corporation stays away from military toys and toy guns. That is our policy, We go mainly for do.it-yoursetf toys." WHAT WILL YOU BUY? The three nurseries con- tacted all recommended safe educational toys for children. "The kind of toys we buy are in two categories: construe - don and manipulative or pat- tern toys," said Mrs. Lane. "The construction toys," she explained, "are all wood- en or heavy plastic sets with lots of color. These kits are there to encourage children to create their own toys and by doing so they ore learning all the time. Ety the time they've made something they find it's as much fun to make it as play With it." should be sturdy with no sharp edges that pight hurt the child." She criticized many toys be- cause they are not made to last. They are often realistic, but there are blue pigs or pink cows and other pieces of non- .• sense. And the younger child tends to think of animals and other things the way their toy replicas depict them. Miss Lapierre told us the Listowel nursery gets all of its toys from educational sup- pliers and Fisher-Priee is the best. "The ones made of wood, I believe, are the best. We also use a lot of puzzles and excer- cise equipment such as bi- cycles." She said the "gimmick toys are much too expensive for a day nursery and they don't teach a child much anyway. Maybe parents can afford them for their children but persOnally, I think it is a waste of their money. The money is much better spent on puzzles, blocks, Tinkertoys and things that the children can create with and use their imagination Murray Stainton believes "The best toy buys are some- thing that the children will use a long time. These trend toys and big volume toys make a lot of splash on television until enough have been sold but they reach their peak and then they start on a new one. And the toy itself is left collecting dust somewhere." He cited as an example toy trains. "Toy trains were the big thing a while ago. Now they've been outsold by racing ear sets, although they are trying to make a comeback." Manager of the Canadian Tire Store in Mount Forest, Please turn to Page 8 DIFFICULT CHOICE: Robbie McLaren, an employee of Stedman's Store in Listowel has a difficult choice in picking out a toy model because there are so many. IN YOU GO: Jimmy Long, 3, of RR 2 Atwood, enter- tains himself with one of the many puzzles and games at the Listowel Day Care Centre. Michele Lapierre, sup- ervisor of the centre says, "Advertisers show toys with too much pizzazz. They don't come on and tell you what the toy is really like."