The High Point Enterprise from High Point, North Carolina • Page 25

Santa Claus Carrying Toys Of High Point Origin This Year The High Point C.J Enterprise, Suuday, Dec. 3, By BILL CURRIE Enterprise Staff Writer In just 21 days ole St. Nick will load his sleigh with all the things that delight the heart of childhood, and cracking his whip over his team of reindeer, will set out from his home at the North Pole to deliver the toys and goodies which he has made to the children of the world. During these days of mans production and speed, old Santa can't make it by himself as he used to, and consequently he has had to contract with "others to help him out. One of Santa's contracts was let right here in High Point to the Fli-Back company, and what a tremendously important contract it is.

Fli-Back and Sock-It Companies Team With St. Nick to Give City Place In Toyland Nothing is as universally used and enjoyed as much as the rubber ball. It has been in use for by all types of people with all kinds of culture, and for sheer amusement and for variety. of uses, it has never been surpassed, or even equalled. The ball was used by the Aborigines Aztecs i'n South Amppica.

and it is today one of the principal playthings of Americans from cradle into manhood. Always more than 100, and sometimes more than 200 High Pointers are employed in the manufacture of rubber balls of all kinds, and various other toys FU-Back paddles are sawed out colors and sizes at the Fli-Back company, and its associated concern, the Sock- It company. The plant, which is located on West Green street, is a beehive of -activity right now, but President Gibson of Fli-Back says all of Santa Claus' orders have been shipped for more than two months. The demand for FJi-Back "ro ducts, however, is not limited to Christmas time. Kids demand balls all during the year, and the factory hums daily making all kinds, sizes, and colors.

It also turns many of the balls into amusing games, the principal one of which is the famous Fli- Back paddle-ball. In the business, the paddle, ball, and attaching rubber band are known as the "paddle ball" game, but regardless of the nomenclature, millions of kids have battered the elusive ball about since the company first began production here in 1931. Boom Things were tough, as most folks recall, about 1931, so Back started on a modest scale. A few of the. paddle-ball toys -were made in a woodshed, each loaded into an automobile, and sold locally, The purchase price was low, and the entertainment quotient high, so business boomed, and now they have a modern factory with several divisions and with new space under construction.

The ball with the paddle is, and always has been one of the best sellers, but the Fli-Back company uses its rubber balls for'many other toys. Big bails, little balls, balls that have the markings of a regulation baseball are all among the products of the local manufacturing- plant. The baseball effect is carried on with varying sizes of baseballs to fit hands of children from the kiddie-car to the Many complicated processes arc used in the manufacture of the balls, the paddles, and the tops which are also important products of Fli-Back and Sock- It. The balls were.formerly made entirely of natural rubber, but in recent months since the government placed restrictions on rubber, synthetic rubber is now being: utilized. The rubber is cessed, chopped into suitable rectangular pieces called slugs, and then is moulded by presses into balls.

New Toy The paddles are carefully sanded, sawed in lots to the proper shape, and stamped with the trade mark of the company. The balls and rubber bands are attached by hand, and, presto, a new toy has come into being. But the "paddle ball" is by no means the only toy made here. Tops go well in some sections of the country, and many come from High Point. A couple of generations ago, the top was as common to the American boy as bare feet and swimming in the creek.

It isn't so in these parts now, but the folks who make them, and they should know, say tops are still high on the desirable list in the west, and particularly in Texas. The return top goes ug and down on a string, and anybody who has lived as little as six years or as much as sixty is familiar with the device which has several times swept the coumry in jreat waves of popularity. Then there's the balloon. If a wise man were to sit down and attempt to puzzle out in his own mind what earthly good a balloon does, he would probably wind up with no answer at all. But children of all ages like balloons, and if you believe the slogan of the company, no balloon is complete unless it has'a stick.

Right now a new building is under construction in the Sock- It cluster, and when it is completed, balloons will be made right here in High Point. The balloons are colorful, in "many sizes and vary from the long skinny type to the round kind commonly associated with the fair or the circus. The balloon business is always good. Safe Keturn Bouncing a ball is a lot of fun at certain ages, and in some respects the pastime continues to amuse the older folks. But it assumes an ever greater delight when the ball has a rubber string attached which mil assure its safe return to the hand that sent it forth in the first place.

Balls of this type are among the most popular sellers of the Fli-Back Co. An official of the company was carrying; a visitor through not long ago, and the visitor asked: "Where is the man that runs this machine?" The man, it turned out, was a woman. Many women are employed in the manufacture, inspection, packing, and shipping of the toys, and they handle their chores with the same efficiency that characterizes the work of the men who work in the plant. The future of toy making in High Point is closely related to the progress of the war. An all-out war effort would probably curtail the supply of rubber for civilian goods to an extent that toys would have to be placed on the "after the war" In that case, the High Point toy factories would prob- bably convert to some type of war manufacturing for the duration.

At the present time, however, toys are flowing from the shipping rooms in a never ending stream. Christmas Joy Much has been written and said about industry in High Point, and most people all over the country will recognize -you- for either furniture or hosiery when you mention your home town. But a 3ot of little boys and girls will be happily playing with their Christmas toys and unless they happen to look for the trade mark, they'll never know their balls, tops, balloons, and paddle games all came from Santa Claus' subsidiary here in High Point. Childhood ultimate aim of all toymakers Processing rubber for all kinds of bouncing balls Veneer "for paddles sanded by automatic machinery finished all ready for playtime (All Photos by Bill Carrie).