Chronicle Books - Dear Santa: Childrens Christmas Letters and Wish Lists, 1870–1920

Copyright 2015 by Chronicle Books LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-4018-6 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-4642-3 (epub, mobi)

Design by Ryan Hayes

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Y es, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. These famous words, now a beloved fixture in our Christmas tradition, originally appeared in editor Frank Churchs letter to an eight-year-old New Yorker named Virginia OHanlon. The letter was printed in New Yorks The Sun on September 21, 1897, in an effort to reassure Virginia of Santas existence. The young lady, whose friends were skeptical about his existence, wanted to know if Santa was real. Virginias father told her to ask the newspaper because If you see it in The Sun, its so. Churchs reply, published for the nation to see, charmed readers and galvanized the American Santa traditiona tradition that newspapers played no small role in establishing. All the letters in this book originally appeared in newspapers, often having been routed there by postal workers who didnt know what else to do with them. Newspapers typeset and published the letters, retaining all the charming idiosyncrasies of the handwritten letters, including typos, misspellings, and endearing grammatical errors. (We, too, have retained those idiosyncrasies in the selections that appear in this book.) Among many other joys these letters brought to audiences, newspaper publication of Santa letters invited adults to reconnect with their childhood. This book, containing more than 125 fascinating letters from 1870 to 1920, invites you to do the sameto rediscover the Christmas spirit and the magical possibilities of the holiday season by seeing it through the eyes of a child.

Continuing the great tradition, children from around the world still write letters to Santa. In America, the ritual went mainstream in the second half of the nineteenth century, due in part to a cartoon by Thomas Nast that included Santas fictional address: Santa Claussville, N.P. (short for North Pole). Children began addressing letters to that address and mailed them through the United States Postal Service. For years, they were redirected to the dead letter office, unread and undeliverable. Then, in 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized postal employees and volunteer citizens to respond to the letters in order to ensure that every American childs holiday wish might come true. By the end of World War II, Operation Santa had become a cultural institution, making its Hollywood debut in the famous courtroom climax of Miracle on 34th Street (1947), in which postal workers toss mountainous piles of letters before the bench of Judge Henry X. Harper as indisputable proof of Kris Kringles identity as the real Santa.

Indeed, Santa Claus receives more mail than any other figure in the worldan average of more than five million letters per yeardue in part to the participation of postal services who maintain a working relationship with Santa. American children can send letters to Mr. Claus, 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99530-9998. English children can mail them to Santas Grotto in Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ. Canadian children can mail them to Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada, H0H 0H0 (a postal code that, in letters and numbers, mirrors Santas jolly laugh, Ho, ho, ho!). Children of any nationality can send letters directly to the Santa Claus Main Post Office in Rovaniemi, Finlandlocated precisely at the Arctic Circlewhich has received nearly twenty million letters from around the world since 1985.

Prior to the global implementation of the modern postal system in the late 1800s, children around the world relied on a variety of methods to deliver messages to Santa Claus, many of which are still employed today. In England, for example, children placed their letters in the fireplace, where their wishes were magically turned to smoke and drifted through the sky toward Santas wintry kingdom in the North Pole. Scottish children would cry up the lum by sticking their heads up the chimney and shouting their Christmas wishes out loud for Santa to hear. Throughout Europe, the tradition was to leave a letter in ones shoe beside the chimney or the Christmas tree where Santa would be sure to see it. Swiss children would awaken to find a piece of chocolate on the windowsill, left by Santa as a confirmation of receipt. Latin American children attach their letters to balloons and loft them heavenward in hopes that they will reach Santa. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, children leave their letters on the kitchen table, or by the Christmas tree or fireside, alongside a plate of cookies and a glass of milk (for Santa) and generous clusters of carrots (for Santas reindeer).

These days, children can launch their messages into the electronic ether of cyberspace. Santa now welcomes e-mail messages and video messages sent on the Internet. However, despite the dominance of new media technology in our everyday lives, the handwritten Santa letter tradition continues to thrive: the volume of Santas snail mail correspondence grows every year, and far exceeds the number of yearly e-mail messages in his Arctic inbox.

Writing letters to Santa is more than just an opportunity for children to pour forth their hearts desires to an attentive ear. Its also an exercise in literary expression, often being a childs very first attempt at letter writing. In addition, it offers a sentimental education for the human heart. Witness the selfless compassion of one kindhearted Australian girl Belgian and Servian boys and girls who have suffered so much. Santa letters also offer a window into the changing timesthe historical events and material objects, particularly toys, that shape the culture of an era.

Above all, the letters reflect the immortal hope of the child in all of us. Today, more than ever, the famous words of Francis Church ring true. No Santa Claus! he replied to Virginia in disbelief that any should doubt Santas existence. Thank God! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. Dear Santa is the story of childhood, told in letters that express the oldest, best, and most ardent wishes of the human spiritletters that gladden the hearts of children of all ages.

O nce upon a time, there lived a man with three daughters. The mans poverty prevented him from giving his daughters a marriage dowry, and without husbands they were sure to be sold into slavery. One evening, a good man named Nicholaswho was known to have devoted his life to helping those in needdropped a bag of gold down the mans chimney, enough to enable the oldest daughter to marry. The next night, another bag of gold came tumbling down the chimney, enough to allow the mans second daughter to marry. On the third night, when the final bag arrived, the father was waiting for Nicholas. The father begged Nicholas to accept a gift in return for his generosity. Nicholas refused everything that was offered him, and instead praised God as the true source of the fathers good fortune.