MILLIONS OF DOLLS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 153, 2 December 1938, Page 4

MILLIONS OF DOLLS

BIG CANADIAN INDUSTRY

Large-scale production is not restricted to serious things: it is a little surprising to learn that a single factory produces 50,000 dolls in a week, over 2,500,000 a year. This factory is that of the Reliable Toy Company of Canada, the largest doll-making concern in the British Empire. Mr. S. F. Samuels, president of the company, is in Wellington in the course of a business tour.

Mr. Samuels takes the burden of his responsibilities lightheartedly, as becomes one whose business it is to contribute to the happiness of the world's children. In an interview, he said that the trend in the doll industry was not in the direction of fantastic new designs, but rather towards "natural charm." The day of the roly-poly doll baby was on the wane. Today's baby doll is a more accurate copy of the natural lines of its human model.

Mr. Samuels, who is visiting New Zealand as part of a world tour which takes in almost all corners of the British Empire, said that conditions in [ Canada were steadily improving. An excellent 1938 wheat crop and the Canadian Government's guaranteed minimum price had helped the farmers' in Western Canada. The great automotive factories in Eastern Canada were busy turning out more and more streamlined motor-cars, and the mining and lumbering industries were in a more stable condition than for many years. The Canadian-made dolls, Mr. Samuels said, were gaining remaricable acceptance throughout the world, particularly in British Empire countries, where, tariffs were favourable. Although the extremely low cost of labour in some countries enabled them to turn out dolls at a very low price, the public were becoming more and more wary of "bargain" merchandise. In every line of industry—and the doll business was an outstanding example—the public demand for quality was enabling manufacturers to produce better value and to pay employees a reasonable wage, said Mr. Samuels.

While in Wellington, Mr. Samuels intends to meet local firms and. discuss such questions as designing dolls to meet the needs of the country, and to keep peace in our nurseries.