This kind of sad or interesting story is not uncommon when reading Santa Claus's letter, which can be traced back to19th century. The note sent to Santa Claus is an impossible lens to understand the past, and can glimpse the worries, desires and quirks of their time. However, as interesting as the children's notes themselves, the ways and motivations of adults seeking answers are constantly changing.
The three new books focus on the letters written to Santa Claus this season, telling the history of Santa Claus' letters from different angles: the letters written to Santa Claus are selected from the notes of 1930, and the thousands of letters sent to Santa Claus Museum in Indiana (the city where Wilson castel sent letters); Dear Santa Claus, collected the early letters of 1870- 1920; My own book Santa Claus tells a true crime story. A jazz-era Haxter abused Santa's reply plan and stuffed his socks with cash.
Letter to Santa Claus contains more than 250 real letters and envelopes, from naughty kindness in 1930s to now. This touching book will touch the readers' hearts and bring back memories. In our life, there was a time when a man with a white beard and a red suit wanted our wishes to come true.
Together, these books illustrate how children's demands and views on Santa Claus have changed in the past century and a half. But they also reflect the permanence and eternity of this ceremony. Even though many other things in the world have changed, children's imagination (and desire for toys) has not changed.
Considering how the custom of Santa Claus writing letters began, it seems surprising. Early versions of Santa Claus often portrayed him as a disciplined man. 18 10, the new york Historical Society published the first photo of St. Nicholas in the United States. In the photo, Saint Nicholas is wearing a church costume and holding a switch, and a crying child is standing next to him. The earliest picture book of Santa Claus shows that he left a birch pole in the stockings of naughty children, and he "instructed his parents to use it/when his son refused."
The earliest letters from Santa Claus were similar sermons, usually from St. Nicholas, not addressed to him. Minister Theodore Ledyard Kuler recalled that when he was a child, he received "an autographed letter from Santa Claus in new york in the 1920s, which was full of well-meaning suggestions". In 1950s, Fanny Longflore, the wife of poet Henry Wordsworth, wrote a letter to her three children every Christmas, reflecting on their behavior in the past year and how to improve their behavior.
You learned some naughty words. Santa Claus explained in a letter from 1853: I hope you can throw them away like sour fruits. "Before you use anything, try to stop thinking and remember that if no one hears you, God will always be by your side." Before childhood is regarded as a unique period in a person's life, it is not as important to satisfy children's imagination as to teach them manners to accelerate adulthood.
Longfellow's letter has a "chimney corner" return address, probably because she left it on the fireplace at home. In the early decades of the evolution of Santa Claus in the United States, not only did saints go in and out of houses through chimneys, but so did his letters. Parents left the note in socks by the fireplace for the children, and the children quickly put it away. He replied:
During the civil war, postal workers began to send mail to the city center by hand, and Americans began to regard mail as a surprise at home, not a heavy task. The Chicago Tribune captured this change in a report in 1864, which reported that the addition of 35 couriers changed Chicago's overall understanding of postage. Now, when each postman delivers the mail directly to the residents' door, the postman is no longer "the trouble of having to deliver the mail to the office", but turns the postman into "a real family of Santa Claus (visiting at his own pace)". Partly due to the civil war, the postal system became more formal and efficient, and the postage cost began to decline in the mid-1960s. Parents can pay stamps more easily, and children begin to see the postman as the real channel for Christmas.
Saint Nick's pictures, poems and illustrations-especially thomas Nast's description in Harper's Weekly at 187 1-classify the letters of "parents of good children" and "parents of naughty children"-help to spread the idea of sending Santa Claus mail. Nast is also considered to be promoting the idea of Santa Claus living and working in the Arctic-for example, an illustration in 1866 takes "Santaclausville, N.P." as his address-giving children a destination to send Santa Claus mail. Using the post office to contact St. Nick was originally a special American phenomenon. Scottish children will shout their wishes in the chimney, while Europeans just leave socks or shoes to the gift giver.
Santa Claus: the rise and fall of swindlers in the jazz age and the invention of Christmas in New York. Santa Claus is a holiday story with a dark belly, and it is also a must-read for Christmas stories and history lovers in true crime and new york.
Shortly after the purchase, newspapers all over the country reported that Santa's letters arrived at the local postal department, and then at their own offices (recognizing the emotional power of letters, many newspapers published children's graffiti and even offered rewards for the "best" letters. 1873 in February, 13, a reporter from Columbia, Phoenix, South Carolina wrote: "The little guys are getting more and more interested in Christmas." . The Democratic reporter from Stark County, Canton, Ohio noticed the following year: "One day last week, two smart children walked into the Democratic office and asked us to print a letter to Santa Claus.
In the meantime, children often ask for simple and practical gifts. Dear Santa Claus contains 65,438-09 letters written in the 1970s asking for gifts, such as writing desks, prayer books and "a hair oil" from "Dad". With the change of society, children began to ask for more interesting things, such as candy, dolls and roller skates.
But with the accumulation of letters, the tension about who should reply has also intensified. Although some newspapers published letters addressed to them and invited readers to reply, most of the letters addressed to the post office were eventually sent to the destroyed dead letter bureau, and some letters were sent to inaccessible addresses. At the beginning of the 20th century, the public and the press began to complain that children's wishes were so neglected. From charities to organizations, people are asking if there is no other choice.
After several stopgap measures, the postal department (197 1 years ago called the US Postal Service) had no choice but to permanently change this policy in 19 13, allowing local charities to reply, as long as they were approved by the local postmaster. In Winchester, Kentucky, an organization began to give Park Chung-soo Christmas gifts, such as nuts, fruits, candy, firecrackers and Roman candle writers. In Santa Claus City, Indiana, james martin, the postmaster of the city, began to personally answer a large number of letters from Santa Claus in the city, and then when the name of the city brought more letters to people in red, he turned to local volunteers for help.
, but new york's reply procedure is the most prominent. 19 13, customs declarant John Gluck initiated the Santa Claus Association, which coordinates and replies to tens of thousands of letters every year, linking children's demands with new york people who often give gifts to writers in person. This effort has won praise from the media, the public and celebrities including john barrymore and mary pickford. But the organization applies for funds to pay more and more gifts and postage every year, and even needs $300,000 to pay for a huge Santa Claus building in downtown Manhattan. After it was first introduced 15 years ago, people found that a lot of money was missing, and-as Santa Claus said in more detail-Glock was exposed to hiding a lot of money for himself (as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations).
The post office revoked the association's right to receive letters from Santa Claus, and changed policies nationwide to limit which groups can receive letters from Santa Claus. This led to the establishment of "Santa Claus Action", which was originally an informal postal staff group to collect their donations and send gifts according to children's requirements. This program was developed after the scene exposure of 1947 34th Street Court. Later, johnny carson practiced reading several letters on the Tonight Show on 12 every year, which greatly promoted the development of the program. New york City's "Chief Elf Officer" Peter fontana said, "Urge the audience to participate in this program. From the most basic place where they can't afford tokens to the other end where they invest in schools and rebuild playgrounds, the scope of this plan is incredible. " For the past 17 years, he has been supervising the Santa Claus action plan (although he will retire after this season). The plan avoids raising funds by simply encouraging voluntary donors to contribute. Individuals can voluntarily reply to a letter (or letters) from Santa Claus, and then donors will buy the requested gifts and take them to the post office to send them to children. When postal workers give gifts to children, it is the donors who pay for the gifts. Fontana said: "Surprisingly, it has gone from almost nothing to perfection. Although post offices all over the country manage most of the reply activities, Santa Claus City has adopted its own way. 1976, some local volunteers set up a Christmas elf company independent of the post office. In 2006, the Santa Claus Museum and the village opened and merged with the elves. It was this organization that made use of the letter files behind the letters to Santa Claus in the 1930s.
"It has changed from a very simple letter to a much more expensive wish list. You can see from" I want some building blocks "to" I want a video recorder "and" I want an iPad ".Emily wiesner Thompson, the executive director of the museum, said that she has piled up many letters for Santa Claus.
These letters reflect the changing needs of children, from spurs and cowboy hats, so that writers can "play roy rogers" to Xbox and Assassin's Creed 3, from Shirley Temple dolls to American girl dolls. There are some more unusual requests, such as a child in 19 13 asking Santa Claus for a glass eye. An adult woman wrote a letter to Santa Claus, asking Santa Claus to bring her a "tall, dignified, educated" ... rich man with a stable figure ",while in another letter, a boy and Santa Claus discussed" turning you into an elf when my sister came from the stork. " At the beginning of the 20th century, some poor children even called for a coal war, not as a punishment for being naughty.
These letters also reflect a bigger history. From World War I (a mother wrote to Gluck's Santa Claus Association, "We had to break up our family last winter because my husband was a docker and couldn't find a job from the beginning of the war") to the Great Depression; From 9/ 1 1 to super storm sandy (a child wrote a promise on 20 12 that "the requirements are much less this year, so you can focus on children who are less fortunate than me"). Thompson said:
"I like the idea of learning about history through these letters." The process of Santa's reply has been more strictly managed. In 2006, the General Post Office officially launched the Santa Claus Action nationwide and formulated a set of guidelines for all post offices participating in the plan. These include asking donors to show their photo ID cards when they receive letters from Santa Claus, modifying the children's full names and addresses, assigning a number to each letter, and storing the gift information in a database that only postal employees who really send gifts can access.
Every gift-giving place is different. Some people only have one reply activity and will give gifts. Judging from the letters written to the children, we didn't send gifts. "In new york, we only give gifts."
The way of playing Santa Claus is much more modern than Fanny Longfellow or John Gluck imagined. Fontana hopes to see this plan further developed, scanning letters and uploading them to places where people can realize their children's wishes through laptops or smart phones. Programs like EmailSanta. And Santa's package. The Internet provides Santa with a powerful tool to help him complete his annual task.
But what seems unlikely to change is that children continue to be eager to communicate with this happy guy, and adults continue to play with him.
Alex palmer will discuss the history of Santa Claus' letters and Santa Claus' signatures at the National Postal Museum from 3 pm to 5 pm on Saturday. 12. As part of the annual holiday greeting card seminar,
Letters to Santa Claus in 1950s (Santa Claus Museum and Village) Letters to Santa Claus in 1930s (Santa Claus Museum and Village) Letters to Santa Claus in 1970s (Santa Claus Museum and Village) Letters to Santa Claus in 1980s (Santa Claus Museum and Village) Letters to Santa Claus in 2008 (Santa Claus Museum and Village) Dear Santa Claus: Christmas letters and wish lists for children. Dear Santa Claus is one of the most enduring traditions to celebrate Christmas and pay tribute to millions of families to keep them alive.