he wants YOU to write a letter...
The newspaper article was pretty clear: “Post Office Needs Help Answering Kids Letters to Santa”. This year in the bay area, there’s been a large influx of letters to the jolly guy, and the post office needs all hands on deck to help answer santa mail. The article quoted SF Postal District spokesman James Wigdel as saying that an average of 300 – 400 letters come in each year. So who gets to write all those responses?
this is the mail room at the North Pole...
We all know that writing a letter (no matter what time of year it is) can make a huge difference, whether sharing important news, telling a loved one “I was thinking of you”, or just wishing someone well. How to pass on this idea on to kids, that receiving a handwritten letter is a meaningful gesture? Writing a letter to Santa via the USPS “Letters to Santa” program is a great way to start!
you are here...
I arrived at SF’s main post office on a gloomy Tuesday – the last day to pick up letters. The premise of the program is straightforward: children write letters to Santa, you drop by the PO and choose a few, then write your “santa reply” by a certain date. There is some simple paperwork to fill out, and your reply has to be returned by a certain date, in order to ensure delivery by Christmas.
it's fun to watch left-handers write...
The scene at the PO was quiet, although a TV crew was asking questions and shooting footage (hi Mom!). There were only two other “santa’s helpers” flipping thru the letters from children…
decisions, decisions...
It was hard to decide which letters to respond to – there was a variety of wants and needs. Some of the letters were intense (“I would like my cocker spaniel back”), others were flat out hilarious (“I want a Costco Pony” — huh?!). I had no idea what many of the toys/items were that the kids had listed – I guess I need to hang out with my niece and nephew a bit more…
and I had some mail of my own to put in the box...
Arriving home, I developed a plan of attack; thank goodness the PO gave me four different “reply from Santa” templates to choose from, so I didn’t have to re-invent the wheel. I decided on a response that sounded festive (mention Rudolph and cookies), yet didn’t make any promises in regards to specific toys (“I’ll look in my bag for something special, just for you!”). Then I busted out the Torpedo typewriter. Clickety, clickety, clickety – eight replies went by pretty darn fast…
look at that Torpedo go!
Onwards to the decoration! I wanted to create something that looked like an old school Victorian document, with sealing wax and faux illuminated lettering. As for Santa’s signature, what sort of typeface would it be? He seems like a “Middle Saxony Text” guy to me. Once that important decision was made, I got down to work…
DIY lightbox: my living room window!
Once the typing and tracing were complete, I headed for the colored pens and pencils. My illuminated lettering skills aren’t the best (not winning any calligraphy prizes any time soon), but I figured the person who receives my letter will get the main idea.
ho ho ho, indeed!
The icing on the cake? A wax seal with ribbon, of course! I was going for that “Santa Claus-meets-a-crazy-pirate” look. A bit of gold colored gouche on the flourishes added to that effect…
by royal order of S. Claus, North Pole...
And then I put each letter into an envelope, said “goodbye”, and took the stack back to the post office.
That was that.
I’ve shared postal/mail art experiences with kids and teens and I always wonder what they think about writing letters. In this case, will they take one look at the santa letter I created and think “that’s weird”? Or will it be the kind of thing that Mom or Dad put into a box and carry around from year to year? It’s a similar feeling when reaching out to a new mail art/Networking correspondent – will the two of you have anything in common? What kind of person are they “in the mail” as compared to “in person”? Of course, I’ll never meet the children that I send these santa letters to, but I still wonder what they’re like. Will they grow up to enjoy mail just like me?
every day should be like Christmas...
I can only hope so.
Don’t forget to put out cookies for the Big Guy. I hear he likes peanut butter chocolate chip…
–JH
12.16.10 edit: here are some snaps of the “santa-lopes”; a few among the RLD readership have been asking to see ’em. The always-generous-with-his-time-and-a-camera Von Span took a few photos before I returned the whole kaboodle to the PO…
two fronts, one back...
closeup; each envelope was a wee bit different from the other...
Everyday should be a Red Letter Day... 
Jenny this is brilliant! Are you going to be on TV as well then? I would love to see this!
Mr. Andy —
I’m not sure…they didn’t actually ask me any questions, but were filming “the handover” when I was being vetted by post office officials. I’ll be the lady with crazy “motorcycle helmet” hair! 🙂
–JH
such a wonderful post.. I love your ribbon and seal.. so so beautiful and classy.. your letter looks fabulous..
I so believe in real mail.. I wish more ppl would.. xo
Miss Bonnie —
“One person at a time, one letter at a time” — that’s what I always say. If we manage to get ’em in the early stages with Santa mail, perhaps the kids will grow up to be mail artists of tomorrow — one can hope! 🙂
–JH
I trust it will go up here just as soon as it’s aired. I can’t wait! Wish I could play Santa for a day
Your letter from Santa is incredible! Maybe you could work as his full time correspondence secretary? It’d be cold in the North Pole, but I’m sure he could loan you one of those thick, wool-lined red coats of his.
Miss Ashley —
How awesome would that be?! Not only would I get to be Santa’s correspondence secretary, BUT I’d also get to wear a cute, red velvet ensemble that was trimmed in white fur! One downside would be trying to decipher all of the “kid writing” — they really do scrawl with the trained hand of a professional doctor…
–JH
this is amazing jennie! i love the ‘medieval’ look and i didn’t get a chance to do this but i will be sure to make a note of this and do it next year.
Miss Annie —
I think it’d be fun to get a group of fellow letter writers together for next year, and spread a little yuletide cheer. It could be fantastic fun…
–JH
we could all help each other decipher the kid’s handwriting!
SO amazing and gorgeous. What a well done act of kindness on your part!
Miss Angelique —
Thank you so much for your kind words! It was such a fun and easy thing to do, a natural extension of the stuff I do every day. And what a great way to share the postal love with kids…
–JH
How beautiful! I think my letters from Santa were my father writing with his hand held a different way, but this is way better. I’m so jealous of those 8 lucky kids! 🙂
Did you get to decorate the envelope or is the post office in charge of that part so that no one’s address is revealed?
Miss Melissa —
Luckily, I got to do the envelopes as well! Will post a pic of them later tonight, if I get a chance. The letters from kids all have numbers on them; each envelope has to have that number on it somewhere, so they can match my santa letter with the child’s name and addy. When I returned the letters to the PO, they stuck a very un-glamorous sticker on the front (with the address), but what can ya do? 🙂
–JH
oh my goodness Jennie, THIS is so amazing. whomever recieved one of your letters is the luckiest kid in the world and surely will cherish it forever. there really are no perfect words to say, but i just LOVED this post and your letter, it is so brilliant. definitely something out of an old movie or a letter from a royal. so amazing, so much. thanks for sharing lady, you’re awesome, beyond actually.
❤ ❤ ❤
– L
Miss Lauren —
I’m blushing, truly I am! Thank you so much for your kind words and compliments — they are greatly appreciated from a “sender of wonderful things” such as yourself…
–JH
PS: the postcards have been arriving one-by-one! 🙂
Gosh! What a gorgeous letter from Santa! Even better than a gift made of plastic, I think. I’m sure that the children who receive your Santa letters will cherish them and may wonder in years to come who really wrote them. I believe your letters will inspire.
Miss Rosemary —
Well, there was the “gift option” through the PO as well, if folks wanted to give the kids items asked for. But things being what they are, I had to go with the “letter-from-santa-as-a-gift” option…believe me, I wanted to answer every single one of those letters, but knew it was a large scale commitment I couldn’t make. Next year, I’ll take on a few more reply letters, and hopefully rustle up a crew of folks to join me!
–JH
I Looked to see if my post office needed letter writers for Santa requests, but seems like not. I think a local organization does it. Too bad for me, would have been fun.
Hello friend!
Interesting, very interesting indeed! When at the PO, I asked how one would find out about this program, on a yearly basis. The helpful gent replied that they had alerted the news media, as well as listed it on the USPS website. He then asked how -I- had found out about the whole shebang. “Twitter” I promptly replied, knowing full well that it most certainly was NOT the USPS website…I’m the kind of girl who keeps a close watch over there! I feel lucky that I somehow “fell into” the letter writing campaign this year, almost like it was meant to be…
–JH
How did I miss that? Oh yes — next year I vote you get a mailart posse to go with you to write letters from Santa. How fun. And your letter — so fabulous. Of course I am jealous. And you brought your typewriter? Am I too old to get a letter from Santa?
Miss Pamela —
I brought the letters to the Torpedo, back at home! 🙂 What a funny thing to visualize: me tapping away under the fluorescent lights of the Evans Street PO…
As for next year: absolutely! Let’s do it. Who knows whether they’ll need folks, but we should put it in our brains Right Now.
–JH
What a fun thing to get involved in, and your letters are just beautiful. That alone would be a treat to receive.
I actually saw a related article, about how a lot of these letters to Santa are kids asking for basic necessities, because of how bad the economy has been.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/more-kids-asking-santa-for-necessities-this-christmas
Did you find this to be true in the letters you got?
Miss Valerie —
Many of the letters were the usual toy/game/stuffed animal requests. A few of the more heartbreaking letters were from parents, requesting toys for their kids, or simple items like warm coats or gloves. Reading over those letters, it reminded me of how fortunate I am: to be surrounded by incredible friends, with a roof over my head, and food in my stomach — as well as the luxury of being able to afford things like postage stamps and create mail art. I know that people gripe (sometimes) that the whole “kindness of strangers” thing is a bit forced at this time of year, but I think that any reminder (no matter what month it is) which makes people consider others outside of themselves is good, no?
–JH
What lucky children to receive your mail art, Jenny (and lucky Santa to have you working away for him!) Fifteen years ago here in Melbourne, Australia I wrote to Santa, and received the most beautiful letter back, written in fine old-school script writing (black ink) on fragile paper. In the face of growing skepticism amongst my peers I produced this letter in subsequent years, as evidence the great man existed! Eventually my mother told me it was the sweet old couple who ran our local PO/newsagency who wrote back as Santa each year 🙂
Miss Sophie —
This is such a wonderful story — I can see you brandishing that letter on the playground as I write this! One should never underestimate the power and wonder that both Santa and letter writing can induce… 🙂
–JH
Good for you! I should find out if Seattle does this next year. The kids you wrote that for are going to shit their pants. Our local postoffice would let me mail my letter to Santa in the regular inside the postoffice slot. Then they would pull it out and casually give it to my mother.
Miss Anna — this story is too too funny! I can imagine the post office employee wading into the fray of Christmas mail, in order to pull out your santa-gram and hand it over to your mum. My question is: did you actually see the postal worker hand it over to your mum? That would totally shatter my illusion of the whole thing, if I were a little kid…
–JH
OK, back to that red velvet ensemble trimmed in velvet…I remember a picture of you in that exact out fit a few years back, maybe next year you should break it out and deliver your letters to the PO. Now I have a vision of your entire Santa letter writing crew dressed as elves and cute little Santa’s helpers traipsing off to the PO to deliver “Santa’s” letters! ( Am I in trouble for telling that you actually own a little red velvet ensemble trimmed in white fur?)
I love all of your posts but this one was extra special. Merry Christmas, Kiddo!
Love, Mom
Guess the cat’s outta the bag, right? I do have that outfit. And that Santa at Macy’s, the one everyone’s talking aboutt? I sat on his lap and he didn’t seem to mind one bit — we swapped dry cleaning tips! 😉
Seriously, I’d love to get a kringle-posse together for next year. It doesn’t seem like something that post offices need every season though; both Andy and Anna mentioned above that their PO’s didn’t seem to need any help. But you know me: any excuse to wear a fancy outfit, and I’m there! Hopefully the USPS will need “specialized santa letter writing services” in 2011 — I’ve got some “special ops” services that could be in high demand! 🙂
–JH
After seeing an article about how more children are writing to Santa asking for things like clothes for their family instead of toys for themselves, not to mention how more and more parents are writing requesting the same thing… I really really want to respond to some. I want to BE Santa. I want to send them those things for Christmas. I know it’s a little late, but if it’s possible I’d love to try. Unfortunately, the post office here in CO doesn’t allow volunteers to help out like this. Would you be willing to help me out? Please email me!
Miss Jennifer —
It seems that post offices around the country all have a different approach to the santa letters program based on need within the community. For example, the SF bay area needed volunteers to help answer letters, since this is a pretty big urban area. When I went down to the PO, I had to fill out some paperwork — part of which included being a resident of California, located within San Francisco. So it seems pretty area-specific.
I’m certain that there are many ways that you can make a “santa experience” happen within your own community. Donating items of clothing to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army is a great place to start. Giving a monetary donation to a local homeless shelter can often help pay for Christmas dinner or toys for children. And why stop there? By volunteering at a local non-profit, you can keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year long.
Let me know how it goes — I wish you great good luck and all the best for the new year!
–JH
Those are so adorable! I am going to wrtie a letter to Santa next year!
Miss Ann —
Many thanks! I can only wonder what those kids will think, when they rip open their letters…
(maybe it’s better not to think of the ripping…)
🙂
–JH
I love this — you sat on the Macy’s Santa’s lap? I must see the photo of that. And I love your mom’s comments. Yeah, you do have a “special ops” in the wings for the Santa letters but we may need a special JH workshop first to whip us into shape!
Miss P. —
I did! I’ve got the photos to prove it. Mr. Claus was quite the gentleman, and approved rather mightily of my ensemble.
The next time we get together, I’ll bring my photo! 🙂
–JH
[…] by pepperedthought in Ladies, Letters, Manners Tags: diy pretty santa letter, fancy santa letter, letters to santa, old world santa letter, red letter day, santa letter photo and idea credit from Red Letter Day […]
Dear J.,
Um, I’m just in love with the Santa-lope. AWESOME! I’m pretty sure I’d be ecstatic to see something that cool looking in my mailbox… which means pint-size recipients probably were over the moon. HURRAY!
Best wishes,
C in SLC.
Miss C. —
I’m glad you like the Santa-lopes! I think I may have been channeling a bit of your awesome “cross country letter writing trip with small individuals” from this past summer… 🙂
–JH
[…] has been my participation in the USPS’s Letters to Santa program. Some of you may remember my “first year of participation” write up; with each passing year, I’ve stepped up my game by taking on a few more letters. It’s a great […]