After a restful night, I was anxious to see the sights. By instinct I turned left outside the mansion gate. A distance ahead of me was a street that appeared to be a main thoroughfare. Double-decked buses traveled without the aid of horses, in addition to many other types of vehicles. As I came closer to that street, the real wonders began to appear before my eyes.
On the opposite side of the street were stores displaying TOYS, TOYS, and more TOYS through large glass windows. It was difficult to imagine that what I was seeing was not a dream, having come from a small village where toys were almost nonexistent. In the village, just to find a discarded little papier-mâché toy horse was a thrilling event for me. It occurred outside the entrance gate to the estate of the village druggist. The color of the toy horse was light gray with round black spots, and it had real hair on its head, neck, and long tail. Although the four legs were half broken off, it became a cherished only toy for me, until it mysteriously disappeared . . . but not [from my] mind.
[In this store was a] group of little horses (without broken legs) that had soldiers in colorful uniforms sitting on them. Stuffed monkeys suspended on springs bobbed up and down. Dolls of all sorts filled every available space. The spectacle I never tired of watching was the model train that ran on oval-shaped metal tracks the width of the window.
In one store there was a man with a long white beard, dressed in a red and white suit. He was winding springs to make little ships travel in a basin of water, and other toys to move about, to open and close their mouths, blink their eyes, etcetera. People walked into those stores and came out carrying packages, and it occurred to me-those people must be rich enough to buy those toys for their children!...
Every day [after that] soon after sunrise, [we] children would walk to the main street. Sometimes only brother Hy and I would go. Other times, sister Libby would be with us. On a few occasions brother Jules would be sort of dragged along. We did not want him to miss those memorable days.
Our days in Liverpool were filled with fantastic sights everywhere-streetcars and two-story buses, tall buildings, department stores with large display windows [, and] toys, toys ... trains, ships, dolls of every type-and best of all, they were for sale!
