Santa Claus stood and viewed his stock
   In neat precision ranged,
And he scratched his head with cap-a-cock,
   As he said, "Well, times have changed."
For never a reindeer pawed the earth,
   And no sleigh loomed behind,
But a chromium plated thing of worth --
   A motor-car, streamlined.

But there wasn't a boat or a building brick
   Or a Noah's Ark in sight,
Nor a painted monkey on a stick
   For a simple child's delight.
But a triple-engined aeroplane
   Was there for momma's pet,
And a very elaborate travelling crane,
   And an all-wave wireless set.

No dolls had he for little girls,
   Wide-eyed and innocent,
But jewelled slides, for their "perms" and curls,
   And vanity-bags and scent.
"Well, a man must move with the times, forsooth,"
   Mused the old white-whiskered wraith,
As he dreamed of the days of trusting youth
   In a world of simple faith.

"Must wisdom go as knowledge comes
   To steal man's youth away?"
And he thought of the joy his dolls and drums
   Could wake in an olden day
When less of knowledge and more of mirth
   Blessed little girls and boys
And old Kris Kringle roamed the earth
   With his quaint old wooden toys.

For it seemed that the earth abandons joy
   And the race a precious boon
When the trusting mind of a care-free boy
   Grows into a man's too soon.
And he sees in a dream his antlered team
   As over the roofs it climbs . . . 
But central heating doused that dream,
   And a man must move with the times.

So, a sigh for the simpler pleasures gone
   With the days that are no more.
And he turns his car's ignition on
   And the kicks the engine o'er,
Then he steps on the gas, and the sleek machine
   Glides swiftly out of view
As Santa burbles, "Oke, old bean!
   Well, I'll be seein' you."

"Den"
Herald, 16 December 1935, p8