Wood is Good Toys for Toddlers

The wood Long-Bell suPPlies for tovs is called cut siock. It is recovered in'the Weed factory's manufacture of its principal products-doors, windows and frames. Cut stock has been Produced by the factory for some 40 years. Other items which have been made from stock, in addition to toYS, include: ironing boards, unPainted furniture, kitchen cabinets, curtain stretchers, scrub boards, 3-step 1adders and heel stock for women's rn'edgie shoes.

"Toy cut stock is a high qualitY Ponderosa pine product," said Factory Superintendent Dan Downey. "We make cut stock to specifications for toy manufacturers."

Playskool maintains close-working relationships with educators, parents,

$ursery schools, and pediatricians. Its toys are regularly tested at the National College of Education, and a testing-research arrangement is underu'ay at the famed Gesell Institute for Child Development.

Toys Play-Tested

After a toy is developed at FisherPrice, it is play-tested by children in a special room in the company's new research and development building. The children at play are observed without their knowing it. The youngsters act as guides for the firm's design engineers, and help them to know the play requirements that should be built into the toy.

Playskool, u'l-rich rvas founded in

1938, has seven merchandising divisions. They include Playskool -Educational Toys, Playskool Press, Appleton Juvenile Furniture, Lincoln Logs, Holgate Toys, Teach-A-Tot Toys, and South Bend Toys (doll cirriages, croquet sets, plastic swimming pools).

Playskool experienced its biggest sales year in 1961. Trvo of Chrislmas' best-sellers were "llouse That Tack Built" and "Playskool Village." T'irese colorfrrl uanres typify the attractive toy line of 262 items that includes such products as activity tables, hammernail arrd peg desks, parquetry blocks, arrd postal stations.

Big Wood User

Approxinrately 500 to 600 carloads oI r,vood are used in the comDanv's manufacture of toys annually. 1|t-r. primary wood is Ponderosa pine from the Northwest. Other woods -are nraple from New York, birch from Wisconsin, and gum plywood from the South. \Arood is delivered pre-cut to specifications for a particular Playskool toy.

Futuro loy3 ore fed into mochine by Richord Acquislopqce, moulder feeder. These pieces of wood will someday enterlqin children os "Pudgy Pig" loys by FirherPrice.

In following its concept that toys should be educational as well as fun for preschool children, Playskool has featured classification of its tovs bv age groups. This gives parents an "education guide" to toys suitable for the stage cl{ a child's grorvth.

Fisher-Price entered the toy business in 1930. Two of its first toys were nanred "Grarrny Doodle" and iDoctor I)oodle." They lvere made of wood and decorated with permanently laminated lithographs. As they rolled along the beaks moved, emitting a "quackqtlack" sound.

Toclay, Fisher-Price produces more tl-ran 50 different toys, chiefly of the push and pull and action type. "TVRadios" and the "Talk-Back Telephone," were the most popular FisherPrice tovs last vear.

Animal Toys for Tots

Nf any of the Fisher-Price clesigns are based on animals familiar to tl-re child from his illustrated coloring and story book experiences, animals which talk ar-rd play like children.

'fhus, the toy reacts to the child's attention and plays with him. Musical souuds, of natural interest to all children, are also used in many designs. Fisher-Price makes construction tovs. cars, trucks, and take-apart, manipuiative toys which meet the surging needs of the preschooler's growth and clevelopment.

The creation of Fisher-Price toys is based on five sales-proven principles of toy making: play value, ingenuity. strong construction, good value for the money, and action.

Pine Main Toy Material

Close-grained soft pine lumber, mostly from the Pacific Northwest, is the only wood used in Fisher-Price toys.

Fisher-Price's high regard for Ponderosa pine is shown by its toy catalog's presentation of its Educational Blocks "Due to the density and high resin content of Ponderosa pine, these blocks are splinter and split- proof. Light in weight, they have the correct block proportions without the excessive weight of hardwood. They have a warm surface texture pleasant to feel, and a slight nap makes them adhere for easier building."

\\iood, tl-re r.l'arm and friendly material, is a natural for bringing happiness to preschool children in the fornr of quality educational toys.