From the Hall of Records

The Origins of the North Pole Post Office

The North Pole Post Office was officially opened in the year 1629. Although postage systems and the act of formally sending written communications stretches back several thousand years at least to ancient Egypt, as far as we know it was the world’s first post office in either the Elven or Human world.

A Creation of Necessity

The North Pole Post Office was, like most things, a creation of necessity. We started to recruit Human helpers to assist with our efforts around the late 1500s. Of course we had Human helpers long before this. Still, it was this time that we really needed to ramp up recruitment to stay at pace with the rapidly expanding and developing world. It was only when this new wave of helpers was assembled that Santa and the Elves realised there was one fundamental flaw. How would we communicate with them, and how would they communicate with us?

The First Magical System of Communication

With some ingenuity and a little Elven magic, a solution was achieved, and the North Pole Post Office was created. Each helper was issued with a magic postage stamp, which once inked and printed on paper if left by a chimney or open window, would be collected by the wind and carried all the way to the North Pole. The letters would make their way across oceans and continents, until finally reaching the large chimney at the new Post Office.

The Growth of the Post Office

Back then the Post Office was little more than a house with a large oversized chimney. As the years rolled by and the volume of post arriving and needing to be sorted grew and grew, so did the Post Office along with it.

Understanding the Magical Winds

Of course all you Elves are familiar with what we call the Magical Winds, but for those who aren’t, and our new readers in the Human World, here is a simple explanation. The Magical Winds work like an old-world version of email. Once a helper stamps the special mark on the envelope in ink, this sends a signal to the North Pole Post Office which triggers the ‘magical winds” to trace and collect the letter. This was some years later expanded to recognise any letter addressed to Santa Claus, or any of the other names he is known by.

The Rise of Human Literacy

In the 1600s, when the Post Office was founded, it was initially only to communicate with the network of helpers around the world. The vast majority of people could not read and write at this time, but things were beginning to change. If we go as far back as medieval times in the Human World, books were written by hand and crafted by specialists which made them extremely expensive and very rare. Then in the 1400s the first printing press was invented, and this proved to be a significant turning point. Slowly, printed books and manuscripts became more common and as they did the amount of people that could read and write slowly increased.

When Children Began to Write

But it wasn’t until the mid-1700s when education for the masses started to be introduced. With more and more children being able to go to school, the number who were able to read and write began to noticeably increase. This along with the industrial revolution meant that by the first half of the 1800s many, many more children were able to read and write and this was around the time that we started to see children who wanted to send us letters of thanks after Christmas.

Soon word began to spread that letters addressed to Santa would mysteriously make their way to the North Pole. It wasn’t many more years before children started to write letters with requests before Christmas along with the thank you letters that were sent after Christmas.

The Post Office Today

Since this time the North Pole Post Office expanded year on year until it became the massive complex that now receives millions of letters each day in the run-up to Christmas.

From humble beginnings to a vast magical network spanning the world, the North Pole Post Office remains one of the most extraordinary creations in the history of Santa’s Village.

Even now, with each letter written and each wish sent, the Magical Winds continue their work — carrying hope, belief, and wonder across the world.

Continue your journey through the world of Santa:

→ Discover the secrets of Santa’s Village
→ Explore the lives of the Elves
→ Read the chronicles of Santa Claus himself