Dear Santa Claus

The idea of Christmas in the world of children develops and expands with the years, and it seems to me that Christmas is losing its primary religious character and becoming "the feast of the little ones" in every land and of every religion — playing its enchanting melodies upon innocent hearts, so that joy swells and innocent eyes dance with cheer and happiness...

... All this thanks to "Santa Claus," or "Papa Noël," the venerable traditional guest, with his red robe and his white beard, who slips into the little ones' houses through the chimney and fills their stockings with gifts and longed-for sweets!..

In this translated article we shall reveal sweet childish pictures that express the feelings of children and the intensity of their hope in Santa Claus... It is, accordingly, an occasion to reflect on adopting this charming custom among all that we adopt from the West!

Oh, the joy of the children — their joy at the coming of Christmas, nay, at the coming of beloved Santa Claus, master of generous giving and the open hand. They have heard of him without seeing him, and he has occupied their thoughts. They have loved him without knowing him, pinned great hopes upon him, and set themselves to studying and doing good so that Santa Claus might learn of it and reward them for these deeds. Poor children, too, have believed in Santa Claus's bounty, done good for his sake, and sent him letters asking him for the things they need — and Santa Claus has never disappointed a single one of them, save in rare cases...

Yes, this is what happens every Christmas in America, and the letters sent by small children to Santa Claus almost burst the mailboxes. And what becomes of these letters, some ask? We answer them: the post offices in America take great interest in these letters and never neglect them... There is a provision that licenses postmasters to deal with persons able to answer these letters, so as to fulfill the wishes of the small children; so the persons of material means come, each takes a number of letters according to his ability, and sends the children the gifts they asked for. The number of letters sent to Santa Claus that reach the post offices in all parts of America in a single year is estimated at nearly 300,000 letters, some of them exceedingly delightful. There is a boy from New York who wrote to Santa Claus saying: "Please bring me some candy with you, because we eat nothing but macaroni." And there is another boy from Chicago who wrote: "We are on vacation today, so please bring us all our toys."

All these letters sent to Santa Claus the mailman places in the supervision office, and from there the chief sends them to certain well-known persons and societies who take an interest in these letters and who find delight in fulfilling the wishes of deprived children...

This is what the post offices in Boston and New York do — even the postal workers themselves take some of these letters, answer them, and see to their fulfillment with the authorities. And there are many kinds of letters that reveal the psychology of children;

so these persons treat those psychological knots, or problems, in most felicitous ways. One letter attracted much attention, for its writer asked for a list of 34 toys! Very often children set down their brothers' and sisters' wishes; but there was one small boy who, after asking Santa Claus for a bicycle and a tram, added: "You had better forget my big brother, because he doesn't believe in Santa Claus!" There are some children who enclose in the letter clippings from toy magazines to make sure that Santa Claus will make no mistake when he picks out their gift! A boy from Minneapolis sent a letter containing a picture of the sled he wanted; and inside the letter were also found verses of poetry he had copied out with care, so as to express to Santa Claus how much he loves his mother, that he might be rewarded. He wrote: "Mother, my darling mother, my dear, I love you, I love you every day of the year." Look, then, at this deep feeling with which the child tries to express to Santa Claus his love for his mother, to win his favor and have his wishes fulfilled!!

And how sweet are those children who do not forget their families but think of them as well. A little girl sent a letter to Santa Claus saying: "Please send a refrigerator for my father to put his liquor in." Some letters at times show the fear and doubt in the souls of certain children: a little girl wrote, "I am very nice to my father and mother, sometimes." And there is a letter from two brothers in New York that says: "We will try to behave well until Christmas — P.S. — please hurry!" But some far-off children dread that Santa Claus may not find their houses, and so they would lose his bounty; therefore one Canadian child sent a letter and put inside it a map of his country for Santa Claus to steer by. And some are afraid because their houses have no chimney, and they know that Santa Claus drops down the chimney at night and leaves the gifts; so "Carol Ann" of "Minneapolis" wrote to him: "We have no chimney, but I will put my shoe on the bench outside — put the presents in it." Some letters, again, show the troubled state of children's souls at the coming of a new brother or a new sister. One letter says: "All the family's money went this year to buy a new sister to play with; as for me and my brother, we prefer toys." And some letters leave the choice of the gift to Santa Claus himself, the letter being nothing more than an expression of their feeling toward him... And there are some letters that show the broken, aching souls of children: a child of eight wrote a letter saying: "I wrote to you last year and the year before, but you did not answer us!"

This although the postal workers of New York itself buy toys, food, and clothing out of their own budget for 250 families, and the Boston post office comes to the aid of 40 families. Nor is that all: several clubs, too, have taken on the Santa Claus operation to help children. The Exchange Club of White Plains has played the role of Santa Claus for 14 years, and this center has received a great number of letters from believers in Santa Claus, among them a delightful letter that says: "My father does not live with us at home; please bring him something and do not forget him." There is another club in New York that has kept up the Santa Claus operation for five years; last year it bought 500 gifts for 106 children in 46 families. The most touching of the answers that reached this club came from a girl of eight who wanted a left hand, since she had been born with only one hand. Her wish was granted: they sent the artificial hand to a specialist in her town and asked him to treat her...

As for the greatest helper in this work, he is a man who loves children deeply — Mr. "Brown," who finds no pleasure to equal the pleasure of giving. The society that Brown heads began its work four years ago, when his wife asked him to stop

by the post office and bring her ten letters to Santa Claus so that she could answer them; that was only five days before Christmas. Brown sat down in the post office and began to read; a few hours later he arrived home in a sorry state, carrying several huge envelopes — they held some 700 letters, not ten letters only. In the four remaining days Brown played the role of Santa Claus, enlisting certain clothing and toy factories and others to help him; then the members of another society joined him, and last year, with their help, he answered a thousand letters!

Brown and his companions love Christmas more than the little children do, and they relish nothing more than fulfilling the wishes of the deprived little ones. He says: "Nothing is easier than this operation. All you have to do is write or telephone the head of the post office and ask whether you may answer a certain number of Christmas letters. And you can make it a family plan, so that the children themselves take part and share with you the joy of giving!.."

These are a few of the thousands of letters that reach the American post offices every year — they represent the children's strong faith in Santa Claus and their striving to please him... And these are pictures, too, of certain charitable societies that care for nothing but generous giving and that yearn to fulfill the children's wishes, spending all their strength and all their means on giving... They are pictures that show us the great benefit in the children's conduct and behavior, since they are always striving to do their best in order to win the favor of Santa Claus...