Toy Shop

Because there were few adults in the crowd, and Colonel "Biff" Hawton stood over six feet tall, he could see every detail of the demonstration. The children—and most of the parents—gaped in wide-eyed wonder. Biff Hawton was too sophisticated to be awed. He stayed on because he wanted to find out what the trick was that made the gadget work.
"It's all explained right here in your instruction book," the demonstrator said, holding up a garishly printed booklet opened to a four-color diagram. "You all know how magnets pick up things and I bet you even know that the earth itself is one great big magnet—that's why compasses always point north. Well ... Atomic Wonder Space Wave Tapper hangs onto those space waves. Invisibly all about us, and even going right through us, are the magnetic waves of earth. The Atomic Wonder rides these waves just way a ship rides the waves in the ocean. Now watch...."
Every eye was on him as he put gaudy model rocketship on top of the table and stepped back. It was made of stamped metal and seemed as incapable of flying as a can of ham—which it very much resembled. Neither wings, propellors, nor jets broke through painted surface. It rested on three rubber wheels and coming out through the bottom was a double strand of thin insulated wire. This white wire ran across top of the black table and terminated in a control box in demonstrator's hand. An indicator light, a switch and a knob appeared to be the only controls.
"I turn on Power Switch, sending a surge of current to the Wave Receptors," he said. The switch clicked and light blinked on and off with a steady pulse. Then man began to slowly turn the knob. "A careful touch on the Wave Generator is necessary as we are dealing with powers of the whole world here...."
A concerted ahhhh swept through crowd as the Space Wave Tapper shivered a bit, then rose slowly into air. The demonstrator stepped back and the toy rose higher and higher, bobbing gently on invisible waves of magnetic force that supported it. Ever so slowly the power was reduced and it settled back to the table.
"Only $17.95," young man said, putting a large price sign on the table. "For the complete set of Atomic Wonder, the Space Tapper control box, battery and instruction book ..."
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