Dec 8, 1953-Release Of The Novelty Tune 'I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas', Poem by Stuart Armor

Dec 8, 1953-Release of the novelty tune 'I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas', written by John Rox, performed by 10 year old Gayla Peevey. A local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas.The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with a hippo, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years.

If, for the last several Christmases,
you've asked for one or more Hippopotamuses,
well, be careful what you wish for,
if what you wish is a large herbivore,
there are people who traffic in
these animals that are African,
and some one may just deliver
one to you directly from the river.
might be one in the style
of those found in the Nile,
or with equal ease,
one from the Congolese.
So it's not an impossibility,
the potential for Hippopotamusity,
that a secret Santa might, with one, equip us,
first thing tn the morning. Would that be an eohippus?
I don't want to be contrarian,
but what do you do with a big riparian?
They are hard to carry or tote,
singly, or by the bloat.