Santa's Address

In this episode - Santa’s Address . . .

Christmas gift-giving may be over for this year, and Santa has retired for his long winter’s nap, but the spirit of the Holiday lingers far into the New Year. So, next year as your children (or you) prepare your wish list for Santa, be sure to address your letter as follows, but first, a little history.

Did you know children have been sending letters to Santa for longer than the United States Postal Service (USPS) has existed to deliver them? Though today, they’re far more likely to get a response if you include the correct address.

In early America, children’s holiday wish lists were often written out and left by the fireplace or burned in hearths, with the belief that the ashes would rise through the chimney and out to the holiday helper himself. Today, there’s no fireplace necessary — just a stamp — since the United States Postal Service gave Santa Claus his address: 123 Elf Road, North Pole, 88888.

After the creation of the Postal Service in 1775, letters to Santa flooded mailboxes; local postmasters would sometimes intercept the mail and respond to children themselves (though this is technically mail fraud, most postal workers considered the deed an act of kindness and looked the other way). Eventually, a specific postal route for thousands of Santa letters became a problem for real-life delivery workers. By 1907, the number of unanswered letters bogged down the Postal Service’s dead-letter office (the home for unclaimed or undeliverable mail), and many ended up incinerated. So, the country’s postmaster allowed post offices to give Santa letters to generous individuals and charitable organizations, who then answered letters and delivered gifts.

Dubbed Operation Santa in 1912, the program has continued for over a century. It’s gotten a modern update, however: Wish lists from children and adults are anonymized and digitized, then uploaded to the USPS website, giving holiday do-gooders a chance to play Santa and reply with the kindness of a surprise gift. Click here to see the 2022 program results.

So, if you are convinced this Christmas Santa didn’t get your letter, be sure to address your 2023 letter to the following:

Santa Claus
123 Elf Road
North Pole, 88888

I’m Patrick Ball; Happy New Year! See you in the next episode.

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