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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2019)
6C | L ETTERS TO S ANTA 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Santa letter-writing secrets A t the tip of the North Pole resides a jol- ly man who collects letters from children asking him to deliver all of their hearts’ desires. Although Santa Claus does a thorough job of making sure chil- dren’s treats are delivered on the same night, sometimes he needs assistance with reading and responding to the thousands upon thou- sands of letters sent to him each year. That is why he of- ten relies on an extensive list of helpers to handle much of his holiday correspondence. According to the Smith- sonian, the practice of writ- ing to St. Nick dates back more than 150 years. Early depictions of Santa show him as a disciplinari- an. The first Christmastime Santa letters were actually sent by Santa, rather than the other way around. Such letters encouraged children to be good boys and girls. Eventually, an illustration by Thomas Nast depicted “Santaclaussville, N.P.” as Santa’s address, providing children with a place where they could send their corre- spondences to the big guy in red. The Universal Postal Union, an intergovernmen- tal organization that coordi- nates postal policies across 192 member nations, indi- cates that 1,350,000 letters to Santa were sent by Ca- nadians, while Americans sent more than one million and Britains mailed roughly 800,000 such letters in 2012, the most recent year from which figures are available. To account for the stagger- ing number of letters sent, various post offices and postal programs were estab- lished to help Santa with the task of tackling children’s wish lists. In Canada, children can address letters to Santa and use the postal code H0H, 0H0. In 2016, the USPS in- stituted a new letter-writing option that enables parents or guardians to include a personalized response let- ter back to children who address letters to Santa. The package can be postmarked to: North Pole Postmark Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Drive, Anchorage, AK 99530-9998. Many other letters to San- ta end up routing to various post offices where thou- sands of volunteer “elves” can adopt letters and make children’s wishes come true. A “Letters to Santa” pro- gram enables children in se- rious need to get items that can help keep them safe and happy. Parents may also inves- tigate a number of services that will provide letters from Santa, Mrs. Claus or elves for nominal fees. These letters can be personalized with details. Santa has even gone high-tech with person- alized videos and pictures as well. A quick web search can yield the instructions on how prospective helpers can get started. Children can improve their chances of letters be- ing read and received, with these tips. • Identify who is writing the letter and share some details about your life. • Make sure you’ve been nice and well-behaved. • Ask Santa how he has been and engage in some polite conversation. • Politely ask for the toys you’d like. Understand that Santa is busy, so keep the list brief. • Thank Santa in advance for his kindness. Hopefully, he’ll have time to reply. • Write and mail the letter as early as possible, as things tend to get busy as Christ- mas nears. — Courtesy Metro Cre- ative Connection A red-nosed reindeer and his lasting fame A dults and children alike are familiar with the tale of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” As the lyrics of the song illus- trate: “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose / And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.” Popularized by the song written by Johnny Marks and sung by Gene Autry, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer dates back to 1939. A copywriter named Robert L. May created the story of the misfit reindeer in 1939 when working for Montgomery Ward. The retail giant was producing marketing holiday color- ing books for children and wanted to come up with a clever character. Although the name “Ru- dolph” is now beloved, May’s original ideas includ- ed Rollo and Reginald. Also, Rudolph’s famed red nose almost didn’t come to be. Because a red nose at the time was viewed as a sign of alcoholism, Montgomery Ward was hesitant to be on board with the bulbous, red snoot. A blue nose was con- sidered, but later changed. In its first year of publica- tion, Montgomery Ward had distributed 2.4 million copies of Rudolph’s story. The catchy tune came thereafter, followed by a cartoon short in 1948. In 1964, the stop-motion an- imated television special further propelled Rudolph to celebrity and became the most recognizable Rudolph adaption. Today, Rudolph is known across the globe as the reindeer responsible for navigating Santa’s sleigh through tricky weather on Christmas Eve. He contin- ues to be loved by many, young and old. He truly “will go down in history!” — Metro Reporting our thanks & best wishes for the holidays We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your loyal readership. May you and your loved ones enjoy a Happy Holiday and a healthy, prosperous New Year. 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