When letters were first exchanged between Santa Claus and children, the letters were left by the fireplace and not sent via mail. This was because prior to the American Civil War, mail delivery was not widespread throughout the United States and due to the lack of advancement, was incredibly expensive, so few people could afford to use it.
After the mail service began to become more formalized, the tradition of leaving letters to Santa Claus by fireplaces evolved to be sent through the mail. However, the North Pole was not a valid address, so all of Santa’s mail used to go to the Dead Letter Office, where they remained undeliverable and unanswerable, as it was prohibited for carries to open any mail, even though it was addressed to the fictional Santa Claus and included a mythical address.
In 1912, this changed. After seeing the many letters come in each November and December addressed to Santa Claus, Postmaster Frank Hitchcock sought to change the existing rules to ensure children received a response to their letters. In response, he created the first ever Santa mailroom, kicking off the USPS’s Operation Santa Initiative. Through Postmaster Hitchcock’s leadership, local postmasters were authorized to open and answer the letters to Santa Claus.
As the program continued to prosper, in the 1940s the Operation Santa Program opened to the public to keep up with the growing number of letters pouring in each Christmas season. Different charitable organizations, corporations, and community members all began to volunteer to read and respond to the letters. Just recently in 2019, the program adopted an online approach to garner ever more support, allowing children all over the country to receive responses to their letters to Santa.
For the last 110 years, the program has had much success. Each year, children send their letters to Santa Claus, then individuals, corporations, or nonprofits adopt the letters, and then ship the gifts to the children whose letter was adopted. In 2022 alone, over 25,000 letters were adopted through the program.
How the Program Works and How to Help
1. Send letters to Santa at: 123 Elf Road North Pole, 88888
a. The letter must include the child’s first and last name, full return address, and their holiday wishes
b. Put Santa’s address and postage stamp on the envelope
c. Make sure the letter is postmarked before December 6th
2. Beginning November 17th, adopters can check the USPS Operation Santa website to choose from letters to adopt
a. Adopters must create an account with the USPS’s Operation Santa Program
b. Adopters can use filters to find a family within their region
c. After letters are adopted, adopters can then shop for and send gifts to the children whose letters they chose
For a complete overview, information about how to adopt a family, online shopping catalogs, and templates for letter writing, visit USPSoperationsanta.com.