Toymaker keeps his craft alive

HANOI, Vietnam -- When Nguyen Van Nham was younger and times were good, he was Vietnam's version of Santa Claus, peddling his homemade toys to stores in Hanoi while hordes of anxious children chased after him yelping for the "vessel king."

His brightly painted ships were crafted out of flattened condensed milk cans that came to life as they steamed through the water fueled by a wick and kerosene. He also made tin horns that sounded "cock-a- doodle-do," rabbits that played drums and butterflies that flapped their wings -- all from scrap metal scavenged from the garbage.

But those toy-making skills, passed down for generations in Khuong Ha village, are dying. Modernization and low demand have driven all of the 40 families except Nham's out of business there. They can't compete with today's imported toys from China that run on batteries and come in all shades of plastic.

"In the old times, we could not meet the demands. Whatever we produced, we would sell it right away," said Nham, 77, sipping tea on a wooden bench in his modest living room. "Now, with imported products, it's difficult for us to sell."

Nham -- known here simply as the "vessel king" for his talent -- learned the craft when he was just 7 by watching his father. He remembers making toys at Christmas for French children before colonial rule ended 50 years ago. He also recalls the American bombing raids in Hanoi during the Vietnam War but said that even then children didn't stop playing with his toys.

It's a tradition that defines part of Vietnamese culture and should be preserved, said Nguyen Van Huy, director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi where handmade games and toys, including Nham's, are displayed and sold.

"Traditional toys have been forgotten," he said. "I think it will completely die out in one or two generations unless they are paid due attention."

Nham, who is blind in one eye, said he too fears the toymaking business will soon go extinct. He said he's old and tired now and was forced to give up the craft three years ago. But he also did his part to keep it alive by teaching all eight of his children his skills.

"I would be really sad if we could not pass it down to the grandchildren because we have made toys for 100 years," he said. "I feel happy that I can still meet the demand for children who need toys."

Outside the house in a tiny workshop near the end of a narrow, winding lane, Nham's son, Nguyen Manh Hung, 38, marks a pattern on the shiny sides of dozens of flattened Ensure cans.

He works for up to 10 hours a day building the foot-long tin ships and says it takes three to four days to complete one toy that sells for about $1.30.

He said business has improved lately fueled by demand from foreign tourists who take the handmade red, yellow and blue ships home as souvenirs. Exposure at the museum has also helped to sell 1,500 toys there this year, and he said several Vietnamese families also still buy the traditional toys each year for festivals.

Nham says he doesn't know how long the family can continue the business, but he said they're not ready to quit yet.

"I'm the only one now, so that is my fame," he said, smiling. "I feel happy because I could make toys that not only kids but also parents liked."

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