Mother read the catalogue’s cornucopian promise:

‘The Best of Toys for Girls and Boys’
The dollshouse came wrapped in sledding snowmen

(fat legs akimbo)

its painted pinecone shrubs, a topiarist’s dry dream
My brother got a belt and holster

to carry his toy pistol

he asked if next year he could have

an antiaircraft gun and realistic searchlight
The heatwave silenced reprimand

my miniature cheval mirror reflecting

the parade ground polish

of a cold baked glazed ham
According to the

Director of the Bureau of Industrial Psychology

children like to imitate grown-ups

emboldened by the lightness of their hollow cast














Note

I acknowledge the use of PIX magazine 24 December 1938. Digital and hard copies of

the magazine are held by Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy

ACP Magazines Ltd.