State

The Toy House By GEIITRIUE RAMSEY Everybody ha» a pood time at the Toy Home — children, grown-up», the two cockers who live there, the man in the workshop and the woman with the paint brush. She willingly puts down the paint brush to welcome visitors, and to tell the story of the adventure which brought a New England couple to live and work in the Toy House. The Guilbcrts. remembering Tryon and liking it, decided to move there when they sold their home in a Boston suburb. That was natural for people who have fallen in love with a place, but the pleasant coincidence was that they found the little Toy House, vacant, no longer a busy bringer of joy to children. This Toy House was built 31 years ago. as home for the Tryon Toymakcrs and Woodcarvcrs. The project was the fulfillment of the dream of Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, who wanted to help the mountain people through a development of their native abilities for crafts. Miss Vance was the artist and designer who made the patterns and taught the carvers. Miss Yale was the executive who ran the sales¬ room and kept the enterprise operating smoothly. For years they carried on the work, selling in their delightful Toy House unusual carved furniture, trays, frames, and an endless variety of lovely things, as well as the brightlv painted and imaginative wooden toys. The Toy House was designed bv Eleanor Vance, on a lot cut out of hillside, rising above the street behind a grey stone wall covered with vines. Trees, singing birds and bright flowers make it a happy place. The walls are white stucco, the roof red. the shutters and trim turquoise blue. Inside, the carved walnut mantel, tall bookcases and intricately patterned cupboard are striking against the white walls. Here Miss Yale sold their wares, and the school and shop prospered. THE STATE. NOVCMBCB B. I9S& _ TW «oil wr .10'. lb. -or»i. W'd Ik. bill. »-l— T0W1 T«, Иол. Miss Yale and Miss Vance were in their seventies when a fire destroyed tools, patterns and supplies, and they retired. For ten years no toys were made and the little house waited, empty on the hillside. And that is where the Guilberts live. Behind the little house is the build¬ ing housing the salesroom and the workshop. Visitors are apt to catch their breath at the first step into the shop where the floor is scarlet, the curtains peppermint candy stripes and gay shelves are loaded with toys. The Guilbcrts had no experience in toy-making, but they had a long ap¬ prenticeship of sharing play hours of children and grandchildren. They be¬ gan, sensibly, making things their own children had loved: blocks, puzzles, a wooden train, a treasure chest, and stilts. Today, fifty toys arc made and visitors enjoy the process, and some¬ times get their fingers wet in the paint or experimentally touch a carving tool The ideas for the toys now come from many sources, some even from reminiscent adult customers who had a favorite toy. and some who send in patterns or even a long-loved, battered okl play thing. There arc shop samples of the toys which children arc welcome to play with, and if one is broken the Guilbcrts feel that it could hardly have been worth selling in the first place. Some¬ times there arc tears "Too bad," says Mrs. Guilbcrt. producing a lollipop "but they have to learn somewhere that they cannot have everything they want. It might as well be here." The Guilbcrts have a definite phi¬ losophy of toy-making. "The thing wc leel most strongly," Mrs. Guilbcrt says, "is that most of our children arc surfeited with everything. They arc apt to have so many toys that they enjoy none of them." They also feel that toys should stimulate the imagina¬ tion of the child, and that this is more important than anything else. Л toy should help open a new door to a child. It should make the child want to do something with it. So many toys are too detailed, too finished. They leave nothing for the child to do with it or to it. Asked if they think children appreci¬ ate the beautiful wooden things, they answer: "Certainly. It is a delight to watch a child taking baby ducks from inside a painted wooden egg. piling up the nested blocks, or laughing at a jumping jack. “Every toy we have is a pleasure to sell." Perhaps the most unusual of their products arc the enchanting Christmas tree ornaments, cut out of wood and oil-painted. And there are clear glass balls, decorated and painted with the child's name. "They both have so much fun." visitors arc apt to exclaim, perhaps enviously. 13