Have you ever wondered where letters to Santa Claus go? I can tell you. They go to Indiana. Santa Claus, Indiana. And Santa writes back.
Each year the Santa Claus Museum & Village and a group of local volunteers called “Santa’s Elves” answer letters sent from children all around the world. They make sure each child receives a reply from Santa Claus; in 2012 over 14,000 letters were answered. As long as they have a return address on them, the good people of Santa Claus, Indiana do everything they can to answers these letters, continuing a tradition that goes back as far as 1914.
One volunteer, Lisa, told me that some letters make them laugh; others make them cry. But they answer every one. What makes them even more special is that they get a special postmark from the Santa Claus, Indiana post office. This makes me wish I’d sent Christmas packages from Santa Claus. Can you imagine the joy on a child’s face when a present arrives from here?
If you visit Santa Claus, you can have your child write a letter to Santa in the original post office that nows sits outside the Santa Claus Museum. Some of the letters other children have written are displayed inside the museum. One boy even admitted he’d been bad. Wonder what Santa wrote back to him?
If you know me, you know what I did. I sent postcards! I signed them all “Santa Claus,” so in essence, I sent postcards from Santa Claus from Santa Claus! I think it will probably confuse my 94-year-old grandmother when she gets hers. Might just blow her mind. 🙂
Who would you send letters to from Santa Claus?
Browsing The Atlas 
Wish I could have added this spectacular mystery to my childrens’ childhoods so long ago
Me, too. I’m not sure they believed that the thank you notes next to the empty cookie plates were really from Santa. Or maybe they did. 🙂
That is a great story. I did not know that!
Me, neither. It was fun reading through some of the old letters on display.
Cool, never heard of that before. A beacon in a cynical world, well done to those townsfolk.
I guess it’s hard to be cynical when you live in a town named Santa Claus.
I remember writing to Santa when I was a kid. And, then, a few years later my parents took my brother and I to Santa Claus, IN. What a treat!
So cool that you’ve been there. I know you grew up in Cincinnati. I’d never heard about Santa Claus, Ind. until two years ago.
Reblogged this on Day's Lee and commented:
Mystery solved! Where to letters to Santa Claus go?
Thanks for re-blogging!
How beautiful that they make sure to reply to each letter. Absolutely charming place.
I know! I wanted to volunteer to spend a few hours letter-writing, too, but the campaign had just wrapped up the day before we went so that the letters arrive in time for Christmas. Maybe next year.
This is fantastic, especially when I think about how many kids these days (and even little little kids!) tell you matter-of-factly,” There’s no such thing as Santa Claus.” This just proves not only that the spirit of Santa Claus is alive and well but that there really IS a Santa Claus, just maybe not in the form one would expect. 😉
You said it! They definitely work to keep the magic alive in Santa Claus.
We should do that. Next year, perhaps. I guess we haven’t got too many years left before the eldest catches on!
Juliann, what a wonderful way to keep the spirit of the holidays alive. 🙂 Thanks for letting us in on this IN secret. 🙂
You’re very welcome. Merry Christmas!
Juliann, this is wonderful. I grew up in Indiana and always thought it was so cool that we had a Santa Clause in our town roster. ~Terri
The town is a hidden gem, for sure.