r, Creates Children's Toys

-eight years ago, a fourteen
d boy felt sorry for a dip-
stricken neighborhood girl
,de her a doll cradle.
then, 41,000 toys have
ned the Christmasses of
ids of institutionalized sick
ndicapped children.
t Warnhoff, affectionately
the "Ann Arbor Santa
was given more credit for
ghbor child's recovery than
ctor's medicine, and when
ctor told him to "keep up
d work," Warnihoff did just
Started as Hobby
good work" was his hobby
is retirement when it be-.
irtually a year around oc-
n, culminating in trips to
Is in the area and the State
for the Blind in Lansing
he distributes his toys to
i]dren.
Rackham School for Handi-
Children and Byer Hos-
L Ypsilanti and the Univer-
A St. Joseph hospitals here
nong the institutions he
nhoff's workshop, housed in
ement of his home, displays
on tier of wooden toys. Doll
fe, cradles, hobby horses
oll houses are stacked in
pon the shelves which line
,ls.
Much Equipment
equipment includes a band
jig saw, a drill press and
er. His intricate work calls
ailed apparatus. But Warn-
work extends beyond car-
-he is also an artist. He

paints his creations with careful
detail - clown's faces, reindeer,
miniature churches.
"Santas Helper" has helpers of
his own. Women's service groups
often contribute sucharticlesdas
bedding for the doll cradles, doll
clothing, or such novelties as
dragon puppets made from men's
stockings.
Groups Give Aid
Farm extension groups, Girl
Scouts, the Kings Daughters, and
a variety of church organizationsj
assist him in his efforts. Many

men's clubs are on the list of the'
contributors as they often provide
transportation to the children
who receive his gifts.
Warnhoff often displays to visi-
tors a large scrapbook prepared
for him by a national magazine,
contining pictures taken of him in
conjunction with a Christmas fea-
ture of which he was the subject
several years ago.
"I'm having more fun than a
millionaire," Warnhoff says. "I'd
rather be Santa's helper than the
IPresident of the United States."

Recordings
For Holiday
Sllintg well
The holiday season is approach-
ing again, and, as usual, the rec-
ord manufacturers are busy pro-
ducing seasonal recordings which
they hope will sell during the peri-
od immediately preceding Christ-
mas itself.
Christmas records are selling
well this year according to local
salesmen-
The stock, which includes popu-
lar American records as well as
songs from many other countries,
has been coming in steadily since
before Thanksgiving.
Officials at a local music store
which has about seventy-five dif-
ferent titles currently available,
report that * best-selling records
so far have been by the Kingston
Trio, Hollywood Bowl, Mantovani
and the Robert Shaw Chorale.
Other records include Cantata
de Navidad, a Spanish record
meaning song of the Nativity, a
recording by the Deutschmeister
Band of Austria and a number of
songs by the Royal M.le Choir of
Holland.
Other Christmas records which
are not best-sellers include record-
ings by Harry Belafonte and Mario
Lanza,
The local record stores have not
received any novelty records so far
this season. These are usually is-
sued about two weeks before
Christmas and sometimes fail to
reach Ann Arbor before the holi-
day is over, the sellers report.

HOLIDAY LIT.

All

L,,

Christmas Writings Vary in Traditioi

By JEAN SPENCER
Editorial Director1
The literature special to Christ-
mas is rich and various, with a
common thread of miracle and]
mysticism in the season tradition1
woven throughout.
Children's stories embroider this
theme of the unknowable element
in Christmas with incidents to
arouse wide-eyed wonder and awe,
stressing the supernatural mystery
of the religious holiday dating
from its inception to Bethlehem.
Fiction directed toward the
modern adult audience is less;
overtly mystical-it would require
quite an act of faith to ask read-
ers who have the "commercialism"
dinned into their ears for years;
to revert to the credulity of a
child.
Nevertheless, the theme is pres-
ent but modulated, emphasizing
the providential kind of miracle
which could be coincidence, but
leaving the situation ambiguous
enough to allow the reader to won-
der if it was actually fortune or
the irony of life.
War Horses?
Some great hack literature has
been written for children -about
Christmas miracles. First and best
of these works is Charles Dickens'
"A Christmas Carol," published in
1943. The miracle traced in the
story is performed by love, and
alters the character of the hero,
Ebenezer Scrooge, from crustiness
and negligent cruelty which has
become a cliche into humane con-
sideration toward his fellow men.
All the elements of supernatural
mystery are brought into the story
-rattling chains, ghosts of the
Christmas past, present and future
which may or may not be dreams,
and prophesied doom.
Contrasted with these nocturnal
scenes is the natural daylight and
lucid description of family life in
the Edwardian period--the poor,
cheerful household of Bob Crat-
chit, the drab offices where
Scrooge's business is carried on.
The exaggerated moral msesage
and caricatured, personalities in
the story create a formal dramatic
framework in which the con-
trasting approaches are highly
effective.
It is almost a morality play in

the pre-Elizabethan style, with
Scrooge as Everyman in the con-
text of "reasonableness" and em-
piricism and the Cratchits as
household gods reminding him of
the power of human virtues.
Another children's Christmas
classic is Kate Douglas Wiggin's
,"The Bird's Christmas Carol,"
written in about the same period.
It is the subtly allegorical story of
a little girl reminiscent oV'Beth in
"Little Women" in that she is
humble, loving, kind to birds and
animals and dying of tuberculosis.
Her name is Carol.,Bird, and
she was born at Christmas, The
pathos of her tale is annoying to
adult readers, who would rather
not *be expected to shed. tears
over light reading, but the trans-
figuration and death of Carol may
have moved modern children to
considers Christmas in a less Fre-
berg-ish vein.
Such simple sermonettes as The
Littlest Angel and The Third
Wise Man must appeal largely to
younger children, since they are
in the Sunday school language
and form. They make no pretense
to adult seriousness.
Neat Tale
Between adult and children's
fiction, and appealing to both
age groups, are the chapters of
Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the
Willows"' which deal with Mole's
Christmas. The characterization of
Mole and Rat are finely drawn-
they are more people than
sketches, and among the most hu-
man animals of all literature.
The traditional Christmas theme
is understated, subordinated to
the story of Mole's attempt to ad-
just to Christmas in a new, lonely,
home. It is brought out all the
more touchingly when the little
field mouse children come around
to sing carols, bringing the spirit
of the season into the new house
spontaneously.
The human approach to Christ-
mas and the beginning of the new
year, with all the impact of sym-
bolic regeneration, are most effec-
tively presented in this animal
parable. The problems of cliche
and hack writing are avoided to
make the story more successful at
communicating what is essentially

a private emotion, not suitable for
advertisement.
Peripheral Twist
0. Henry's off-beat Christmas
story, The Gift of the Magi, gives
the reader a chance for a double-
take. The traditional story line of,
love and sacrifice is built up to a
high point when a young husband
and wife sell their dearest pos-
sessions (which happen to be his
gold watch and her long hair) to
buy each other what each wants
most (a watch fob and fancy
combs). The point I want to make
is that the parentheses enclose the'
twist of the story which is O.
1Ienry's trademark. But in this
story, as in few of his others, the
twist is parenthetical.
The light tragedy of the ironic
surprises only serves to heighten
the impression of Christmas as
a time when people make inex-.

plicable sacrifices for love-a
sophisticated view at base.
Widely Read
The most widely read of C
mas literature is, of course, L
The story here is direct expo
tempered with good literary
and wisdom. It is'frankly th
of an anticipated miracle
with little pomp and pag(
because it was not that k
miracle. The stately metap:
language of the Bible has h<
-enduring grace to withstand
iad readings and retain its
Perhaps to a greater exter
most other -Christmas wo
manifests the capacity to de
all the authors strive to do.
tly involves the reader in a
cal world in the natural wi
of the story, leaving him
shiver of the strange and
of the good.

:.

Kremlin Holiday

CARPENTER Albert Warnoff, "Ann Arbor's Santa Claus,"
shows one of his creations in the workshop where he creates his
toes.

. T_,

it' CU.i strntas o CalpU 4
III our Unliversi"ty Shop

l l 4~i-o la

C

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--AP Wirephoto
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following verse is an anolymous song
meant t. be sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
which was overheard being sung by members of the University of
Chicago student body.)
On the twelfth night of Marxmas, my comrade gave to me
Twelve right Fascists,
Eleven Lenins leaping,
Ten shaking days,
Nine men in the Kremlin,
Eight Bulganins bulging,
Seven strikers striking,
Six splinter groups,
The five year plan,
The Fourth International,
Three bayonets,
Two Das Kapitals,
And a picture of Leon Trotsky.

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