Lori Falce: Let them have dolls

May 9—Christmas isn't just a festive holiday. Not in the U.S., at least.
Christmas is also business — big business.
Overall, the National Retail Federation puts sales during November and December at about 19% of the annual total. For perspective, the monthly average is around 8%, which means those last two months represent almost an extra two weeks of spending for retailers.
In household terms, that's like getting another paycheck — not one that's unexpected but one that you plan on all year.
That's why some retailers — including Walmart, Target and Home Depot — are already concerned about the impact of tariffs on the bottom line. It should likewise be a concern for individuals and families.
The holiday season represents hiring of over 500,000 people, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's not just Christmas. That actually starts when the first Spirit Halloweens blow through and settle into empty big box stores.
But with everything from Halloween costumes to stocking stuffers being made overseas, filling those stores could be a problem. Filling them at a price people are willing to pay? That could be worse. That could mean fewer of those seasonal job opportunities.
President Donald Trump responded to this last week by saying girls will just have to learn to muddle through with two dolls instead of 30.
I'm going to admit, this made me twitchy.
When I was 9, my mom had to decide between me getting presents or getting to see my grandparents in Minnesota for Christmas. My mom handmade me and my sister beautiful cloth dolls with meticulously stitched clothing and braided yarn wigs.
When I was 12, I bought my sister a Cabbage Patch Kid on layaway at J.C. Penney before the uproar began. Mom tried to get one for me but they were impossible. She made me one from scratch. I called her Tabitha, and I loved her.
Singling out dolls feels like a way to call concerns about this area something only little girls worry about. It paints it as childish and irrelevant in a world of more manly, grown-up problems. That's not only insulting, it's wrong.
Toys are big business too. Half of toy sales are made during the fourth quarter of the year. Planning for that fourth quarter isn't just an idea that's coming up on the calendar. Look behind you. That starting line is already past.
It also feels like a snide attack on the poor — and an uninformed one as lower income families are not exactly swimming in pools full of Barbies. Poorer households may struggle to pay the bills but if you have ever met a mother who scrimps, you have met someone who will fight a lion to give her kids a Christmas present. The glib "let them eat cake" dismissal shows an out-of-touch distance from someone who has never once had to tell his own children no.
I don't expect the president to back away from his tariff position for the sake of little girls. I don't think he would ever do so for the poor or middle class families — even those that support him.
But the blasé dismissal is going to impact big companies with big bottom lines, and that could mean something to someone who runs in big money circles.
Because dolls may be a little thing, but Christmas is big business.
Lori Falce is the Tribune-Review community engagement editor and an opinion columnist. For more than 30 years, she has covered Pennsylvania politics, Penn State, crime and communities. She joined the Trib in 2018. She can be reached at lfalce@triblive.com.

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