Letters for Santa Claus
Around the World, Post Offices Help Others Have a Merry Christmas
Dec 11, 2008
Writing letters to Saint Nicholas has been a favorite tradition for many years. Although no one knows who started this activity, the way these letters have reached Santa has varied over the generations. During the 1800s, for instance, children in Britain burned their letters, believing the wind would transport their Santa mail to the North Pole.
Since then, postal workers have come up with even more unique methods of delivering and even answering Santa mail.
Hundreds of Thousands of Letters
While estimates of how many letters Santa Claus receives are difficult to determine, Santa does get hundreds of thousands of letters each year from many countries.
According to an article provided by the Finland Post Ltd’s website, every year children from 150 countries send Santa mail to their offices – with children from Great Britain, Poland, and Japan being the busiest writers. Even in the summer, Santa receives 100 letters a day.
Many U.S. post offices also find that Santa mail increases during downturns in the economy. In a November 21, 2005 CBS article by Rafael Romo, a U.S. Postal Service worker noted that when the economy looks good, their Chicago headquarters can receive an average of 7000 letters for Santa. When people lose their jobs, however, that number can climb to 12,000 or even 15,000.
Operation Santa Claus
So what happens to these letters? According to a November 21, 2007 USPS press release, in 1912, USPS Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock gave local postmasters the authority to allow postal employees and citizens to respond to the Letters to Santa program. This program became Operation Santa Claus, a program that lets postal clerks and volunteers answer letters and buy gifts for people whose letters for Santa wind up in the dead-letter office.
While Operation Santa Claus began in New York, many other post offices followed suit, letting more people become “Dear Santa” helpers. For security reason, Santa mail is no longer mailed or faxed to volunteers – all volunteer receive letters in person. Those interested are encouraged to contact their local post offices for information.
The letters received through Operation Santa Claus vary greatly. Although many send their Christmas gift list, others just send Santa a Christmas greeting. Some ask for good health. Still others are from parents asking for clothes and shoes for their kids.
Santa Helpers Around the World
Post offices in other countries have their own way of reaching Santa. Canada, Finland, and Germany all have postal workers who answer Santa mail in the language they are written in. According to a December 21, 2007 Xmas.co.uk article, France has the largest Santa letter service and employs 60 Santa secretaries each season to answer letters from 126 countries addressed to “Pere Noel.”
Some of these letters even wind up in the North Pole – or at least the North Pole in New York or Alaska. The Alaska North Pole also has the Santa Claus Store, which, according to its website, served as the first North Pole Post Office for over twenty years Since 1952, workers at this store have mailed children over a million letters from Santa.
Santa Claus Online
With more children online, it was inevitable that they would eventually reach Santa Claus online via email. Some sites such as EmailSanta.com send quick responses from Saint Nicholas to children who email Santa. However, children are advised to ask their parents before sending any sensitive information over the Internet and don’t need to give out their email address to hear from Santa.
Even so, in this computer age, it’s nice to know children still enjoy sending letters to Santa the old-fashioned way – through handwritten mailed letters.
Looking for some great Christmas stories? Read a book review of how one special letter to Santa Claus created a miracle in The Legend of Holly Claus by Brittney Ryan and how a lump of coal discovered his own Christmas miracle in Review of Lemony Snicket's The Lump of Coal.
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