The Modern Yuletide

Northern Advocate, 24 December 1938, Page 8

The Modern Yuletide

THE lighter side of Christmas activities seems to afford more and more scope for study as the years go by. _ One of the most pleasing features of Christmas observance in New Ze<m land is that in spite of many counteracting influences it still remains essentially a family occasion, when scattered members of grown-up families are re-united, and when parents with young families devote themselves to making Christmas a day of enjoyment for the little ones, who, even in these sophisticated days, still cling to the legend of Santa Claus as a benevolent being who comes down the chimney laden with gifts for their stockings. Santa Claus, of course, is a highly commercialised individual these days, and makes his appearance in so many different guises that occasionally even the simple credulity of the young is subjected to a slight strain. But how they enjoy it! Christmas for the children is a period of untold delight, when gifts are showered down upon them; and the world is a wonderful place of fascinating toys and coloured balloons, displayed lavishly to attract them. Most interesting of all, perhaps, are the changing fashions in toys. These are attuned to the tempo of modern life, and there is alas, often a warlike flavour about them. Armoured cars, searchlights, and anti-aircraft guns are more in demand these days than the boxes of sturdy infantrymen with which pre-war children used to play. For adults, too. Christmas has changed. The motor car has made an enormous difference to people’s habits, and hundreds make for the open spaces as soon as shops and offices and factories close down. Yet essentially the Christmas celebration remains, as it has been for centuries, an occasion for kindness and remembrance, when the ties of home life are appreciated to the full.