The Inside Story Santa Will Not Use Reindeer This Xmas

Northern Advocate, 16 December 1939, Page 11

The Inside Story Santa Will Not Use Reindeer This Xmas

vyTTH Finland’s marshes under fire ’’ the reindeer herds from which Santa has long been accustomed to draw his motive power, have taken to the Arctic circle. Really it would be 100 much to expect the Reds, who are so advanced that they don’.t bebelieve in Santa Claus, to have studied such minor matters of humanitarianism before embarking on their crusade against the bellicose, bullying Finns. However, with the lifting of the petrol restrictions, it will be possible to convert the sleigh into a motordriven vehicle. By sounding his horn Santa will be able to .avoid beingforced down by Messerschmitts and Heinklers encountered on his dash across the skyways. if if / if T IKE more plebian knights of the road, Santa Claus will have less articles to distribute down chimney tops this Christmas, and the variety may be lacking. For instance, Santa will find orders for Czechoslovakian mouth organs, model bombing planes from Russia and British squealers—no I mean squeakers—more difficult to fulfill. However, Santa who has lived through more than one war and depression, can be relied upon to tap new sources, and spirit himself through clouds of all kinds.

pERHAPS the United States will be able to fill; the bill. In between manufacture of aeroplanes and munitions for the great democracies, our cousins perhaps will sandwich a little more profit on a strictly cash and carry basis, and so help Father Christmas in making supply fit demand. This article is perforce being written some time before the holiday season, and the “Private D” not being a Cicero, or even gifted with second sight, cannot predict what may have occurred by the time it reaches print. Perhaps by then the United States may have'lived up to its written and spoken support of the Allies’ cause on the lines of “If we haven’t got a war by then.” i- * 4c TVTjANY good New Zealand infants, especially those of the Social Security brood, will no doubt be demanding bulldozers for their stockings this year. The bulldozer has come to be recognised as the national toy of the Dominion, and those who have not as yet levelled off their lawns and prepared potato patches with this semi-human plant, have still to experience the fullest fruits of the machine age. Certainly, model bulldozers, suitable for ironing out the

creases in the sitting room carpet, are, a first ne'cessity this Christmas. If it is desired to throw in an historical toy, to educate the child in modern progress and to induce in him an interest in olden time, a long handled shovel and a sweat rag may also be included.

jpERHAPS, as Santa oasses Berchtesgaden, he may drop a toy bomb and a siromarine with which to enliven little Adolfs Christmas Day. Goebbels, no doubt, has already requisitioned a wind instrument of penetrating volume, while a suitable present for Dr. Ley would be a lyre bird in a cage embossed with swastikas. Dodging London’s balloon barrage, the genial Santa may be relied upon to leave ,an umbrella suitably Creped on the door of No. 10 Downing Street.

T3ASSING to the Antipodes, Santa will, no doubt, lighten his load before reaching prosperous New Zealand, where children presumably have no worries, except adenoids. But Santa, despite import restrictions, can be relied upon to have a toy for every taste. For Scrim there will be a brand new radio station; for Mickey, a microphone; for Walter, a new economic formula; and for Bob, the proverbial bulldozer. Way down among the snows of Southland, Adam’s stocking will bulge with a casket of cheer germs, for distribution after the festive season; while in army camps puddings will appear as if by magic.

TF these random wanderings have helped you, kind reader, in some way to catch the true spirit of a wartime festive season, then the “Private D” will rest content, even after the found wish that all should have A MERRY XMAS.

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