"When does Christmastime begin?"
the children asked their mother.
"Depends on who you ask," she said,
"either this one or the other."

So they asked the merchant in his store
as he packed away the masks.
His dollar-sign eyes just grinned at them
and the question that they asked.

"You don't need to ask me that!
You can see it for yourselves.
Christmas begins, my little friends
when you see it on the shelves!"

After that they asked the baker
Who was covered all in flour,
"When does Christmas start?" they asked.
"What day and what hour?" 

The baker said, "That's easy!
Anyone can tell!
Just listen to my shop door
and the ringing of its bell!"

"When people ask for fruit cake
and figgy pudding treat,
and mincemeat pie and coffee cake
and special things to eat."

"That's when Christmastime begins,
with food just for the season…
when people think of feeding guests,
you know that that's the reason."

Then the children spied the postman
as he trudged along his way.
And they posed to him their question
to see what he would say.

The postman patted his leather bag,
as if to indicate
If he didn't move along with speed
he surely would be late.

"Christmastime begins," he said
"when this bag is full each day.
When packages and cards amass
to be sent along their way!"

The children passed the local church,
and saw ladies with pine and bows.
They had candles for the windows,
and lined them up in rows.

"This is nice," the children said,
"but does it really mean
that Christmastime has come at last
with the hanging of the green?"

A woman heard the question,
and tried to make it clear
that there's a special calendar
for Christendom's whole year.

But this confused the children.
It didn't end their quest.
They thought about the merchant
And the baker and the rest.

It seemed that they would never find
an answer that was true,
but then a figure down the street
came into their view.

The solitary peddler
who pushed his meager cart,
told them, "Christmas isn't Christmas
'til it's Christmas in your heart."