The yearly Christmas postmark featuring Santa Claus is back and ready to stamp your letters

Santa Claus, Indiana – A much-loved holiday custom in Indiana is back and open for your correspondence. This year’s Christmas postmark, which is unique to the municipality, is being used to stamp mail, honoring Santa Claus—the town, not the cheerful old elf.

The postmark program began in 1983 and spans forty years. Students at Heritage Hills High School have the chance to make a lasting impression on the town’s history every year.

“It’s a special art project that juniors and seniors choose to do,” Spencer County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Melissa Arnold explained. “They submit their artwork with certain parameters that the post office has set for that assignment, and then the postmaster gets to select the design that represents the town of Santa Claus as the special holiday postmark every year.”

Allison Hoffman is the winner for this year. She is currently enrolled at Indiana State University, according to the organizers, having graduated. Her artwork reads “Santa Claus Station” and includes a tiny sleigh, three reindeer, and a happy Santa.

You can get Hoffman’s artwork stamped on your cards and letters in one of two ways:

• Bring your mail to the Santa Claus post office at 45 North Kringle Place. There, you can get the postmark in person.
• Put stamps on all of your cards and letters, write a note requesting the postmark, then place all of them in a sturdy envelope or box addressed to: Postmaster P.O. Box 9998, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998

The postmark is free of charge, but it will only be applied to mail that has the correct postage. Additionally, the post office advises against sending bulky things in your mail since this may make applying the postmark more challenging.

The Santa Claus gang is kept busy throughout the holidays by more than just the postmark. In addition, tens of thousands of kids write letters to Santa asking him to look after the community. Hundreds of volunteers labor through Santa’s Elves Inc. and the Santa Claus Museum every year to respond to those messages.

Throughout the following few weeks, the town will also host several holiday festivities. A Christmas Parade, the Land of Lights, a Candlelight Evening on the Farm, and Breakfast with Santa are a few of them.