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Letters to Santa Claus
Letters to Santa Claus
Letters to Santa Claus
Ebook228 pages14 minutes

Letters to Santa Claus

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A “poignant” collection of real letters sent to Santa Claus—a town in Indiana—from the 1930s to the twenty-first century, from both children and adults (The New York Times).

For countless Christmases, children—and sometimes adults—have stuffed their dreams, wishes, and promises into envelopes. Over many decades, millions of these letters have poured into Santa Claus, Indiana.

Arriving from all corners of the globe, the letters ask for toys, family reunions, snow, and help for the needy—sometimes the needy being the writers themselves. They are candid, heartfelt, and often blunt. Many children wonder how Santa gets into their chimneyless homes. One child reminds Santa that she has not hit her brothers over 1,350 times that year, and another respectfully requests two million dollars in “cold cash.” One child hopes to make his life better with a time machine, an adult woman asks for a man, and one miscreant actually threatens Santa’s reindeer!

Containing more than 250 actual letters and envelopes from the naughty and nice reaching back to the 1930s, this moving book will touch hearts and bring back memories of a time in our lives when the man with a white beard and a red suit held out the hope that our wishes might come true.

“Often very affecting . . . also offers an unusual window into American history.” —Library Journal

“The letters . . . are alternately silly and somber, hilarious and heartfelt.” —The Weekly Standard
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 5, 2015
ISBN9780253017949
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    Book preview

    Letters to Santa Claus - The Elves

    Letters to

    Santa Claus

    Letters to

    Santa Claus

    The ELVES

    Foreword by Pat Koch, Head Elf

    Afterword by Emily Weisner Thompson

    This book is a publication of

    Indiana University Press

    Office of Scholarly Publishing

    Herman B Wells Library 350

    1320 East 10th Street

    Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

    iupress.indiana.edu

    © 2015 by Indiana University Press

    All rights reserved

    No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

    The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992.

    Manufactured in China

    Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.

    ISBN 978-0-253-01793-2 (cloth)

    ISBN 978-0-253-01794-9 (ebook)

    1  2  3  4  5  20  19  18  17  16  15

    To all of Santa’s Elves:

    Without you,

    there would be no magic.

    Contents

    Foreword by Pat Koch

    Acknowledgments

    The Letters

    1930s

    1940s

    1950s

    1960s

    1970s

    1980s

    1990s

    2000s

    2010s

    Afterword by Emily Weisner Thompson

    Pat Yellig Koch and her brother, Ray Yellig Jr., at the 1935 Santa Statue (circa 1941).

    Photo courtesy Santa Claus Museum & Village.

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