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\ . Thursday, December 20, 1956 THE CLINTON CHRONICLE Paije Seventeen v Most experts expect a booming adult toy market to make this a record year for manufacturers and sellers of toys and games For several years, toy makers have been catering to the hobbyist and the ‘ over 65” age group and now they find themselves with a toy market that is brisk at both ends oi the age group. Today s adult who works, and the elder wh® has retired, have plenty of leisure time on their hands and each year hundreds take up such hobbies as miniature shipbuilding, model railroading, or the less strenuous word or card games Some of the grown-up items on the market for the last year’s top toy selling Christmas season included a $10 scale model kit of the linei S.S United States, “HO” gauge electric trains, model power boats, pool tables. shufTleboard sets, and an endless list of word games ‘V Biggest volume item in the adult toy field are the word games and the increased popularity has been so marked thatWithin the past year two manufacturers doubled their plant capacity for producing games The toy makers have no intention of forgetting the nearly 50 million youngsters under 14 who are their principal market, but they are cultivating the "over 65” group—and their reasoning is simply that the older age group has more money to spend and is more interested in finding ways to occupy time. Some manufacturers of "do-it-yourself’ tools and gadgets are ca$h ing in on the adult toy market by putting models of their products on In this category last Christmas were the toy counters. Among items a “mobile” loudspeaker, an intercom set. and a hand drill. Plenty of these were sold to grbwn-ups who put them to practical use. Poinsettm Plant Can Be^fept for t • Next Christrtias Proper Tree Cuttings Help Forests Grow The poinsettia. long a most pop ular Christmas plant, is one of a group of plants kpown as short day' plants because it will bloom only in the season of the year with the shortest day length periods, preferably 10 hours or less. That is why it is always in bloom dur ing the Christmas season and not during the summer. The so-called “blooms are really leafy bracts which color up a bril liant red. The true flowers are the small insignificant yellowish cups fbund in the center of the whprl of red bracts. , f’oinsettias require regular wa tering—every day if necessary— but not excessive watering. They should be placed where they will get a maximum amount of daylight arid sunshine. Dgy temperatures should be about 70-72 degrees and night temperatures should never be allowed to drop below 00 de grees. Your poinsettia need not be dis carded after the holiday season is over. To keep your plant until next year, place it in the basement or some other dry place, where there is no danger of it freezing. Water it very little, if at all, allowing the soil to dry up. Next May bring the plant out, cut the stem back about two-thirds, wash the old soil oiT the roots and re-pot in new soil. Softwood cuttings taken in Jqiy and rooted will give you good Christmas blooms. Cutting an evergreen for a Christ mas tree is not a harmful practice, so dvn’t feel guilty about it. Even the irees that are sold in market places were "harvested” as a crop to give living room to regular plantings. Christmas trees are grown on poorer forest soils and wet bog areas where evergreens grow far too slowly to produce a lumber or pulpwood crop — thus Christmas trees are the only profitable har vest that -can come of! that land Some trees do come from top lumber areas, but these are "thin nings.” In growing trees as “a crop it is often necessary to thin out th« smaller trees so others will have room to live and grow. Thus it is that the "thinnings’' s£rve a' number of uses: they bring Christmas joy into the home; provide iricome for the forester; and serve as "life insurance” fog upcoming timber crops. & Gifts That Sparkle Add to Holiday Joy Attractive gifts under a Christ mas tree add as much sparkle to the holidays as decorations on the tree. • Plastic foam has unlimited use on packages. A boot three inches high, cut from one-inch-thick plas tic foam makes a nice decoration for children’s packages. PROOF ENOUGH . . Skep tical oldsters who would spread the word there is no Santa should have a chat with this Chicago youngster who fairly beams as he asks old Saint Nick about the things that will be un der his tree come Christmas morning. Most Children Want Brush the boot with shellac and sprinkle red glitter on the wet shellac. Then glue a collar 2 inches thick by IVi inches high on the boot. Simpler Type of Gifts You can make a wagon frori) a rectangular box by cutting wagon wheels and a tongue from %-inch plastic foam. Edge the wheels and tongue with pipe cleaners and glue them to the package For a three-dimensional look, cut a picture from an old Christmas card Make paper strips 4-inch by 2 inches and pleat them. At tach the picture to the package by gluing one end of the strip to the picture and the other end to the package. An early report from Santa re assures the fact that our younger generation isn’t too much fazed by this electronic world in which we live today Although some precocious young sters ask for the outlandish in toys when they write to Santa, the ma jority still request the old stand bys—such things as red wagons, tricycles, balls and gloves for the boys and dolls and such for the girls. It is indeed reassuring in this modern age - to know that children still find security and happiness in the simpler things of life, the things that pleased us most when we were children ourselves Christmas Customs From Many Peoples The ibservance pf Christmas in the United States, is a combination of customs which have come to us fro-’ ermany, England. Italy, Turkey, and many other countries, customs which have been com bined into a beautiful and varied observance. Christmas customs, combineo with a proper -onreciation of the spiritual nature of the observance, gives the real meaning of Christ mas and the universal m»ssagr it holds for all mankind, "Peace on ear" • good will to men!” FINAL SETTLEMENT Take notice that on the 21st day of January, 1067, I will render • final account of my acts and do- ines as Executor of the estate of Myrtle A. Hunter in the office of the Judge of Probate of Laurens county, at 10 o’clock a. m. and oh the same day -will ^pply for a final discharge from my thist as Executor. _ Any person indebted to said estate ia notified and required to make payment on or before that date; and all persons having claims against said estate will pre sent them on or before said date, duly proven or be forever barred. JOHN HOLLAND HUNTER Executor Dec. 3, 1950. ♦tw-D27 SILVERWARE Drop a few small piees of cam phor in the box that contains the silverware and it will prevent it from tarnishing. ~ i - ClintomCotton Mills and ^ V 1 . f —— — -