Corn Husk Dolls for Christmas
I joked to a friend the other day that will all the toys flooding the American market from China, my daughter might look under the Christmas tree this year only to find a homemade corn husk doll. If you take into account the recalls lately due to lead, loose magnets and coatings that turn into date rape drugs, it is very hard indeed to trust anything was made, assembled, packaged, or even flew over China’s air space. And still, over 80% of the toys you will find on our shelves this year were made in China.
All of these terrible toy stories coming out of China might even just be the tip of the proverbial iceberg, since these are just results from toys that have actually been fully inspected, tested, or run into problems at the consumer end. I am sure there are other ticking time bombs out there sitting on store shelves.
The newest magnet fiasco involved Mattel’s “Barbie and Tanner” sets. Is nothing sacred? Barbie and her dog cannot even manage to pass safety standards.
I think even after all of the horrific news about lead paint and kids swallowing loose magnets, most of us who thought we were becoming hardened to the repeated bad news were shocked back into fully alert status when the news came out a week or so ago about the recall of Aqua Dots.
I had been seeing Aqua Dots commercials on TV for months and month and so had my daughter. She had asked me to get them for her so often that I had finally relented and decided she would be getting some for Christmas. Boy am I glad I put off actually buying them!
Aqua Dots are distributed by Spin Master Ltd. in the U.S. but made in China. Reports began to surface that kids were being knocked unconscious after swallowing the colorful beads. It turns out that the beads were coated with a poisonous chemical that metabolizes into gamma hydroxy butyrate or GHB — the “date rape” drug.
I did give in and purchase one doll that was made in China, but for the most part I am buying more of the German dolls my daughter loves so much. And although I was kidding about the cornhusk doll, I am actually planning on making many of her gifts this Christmas.
No comments yet.