Magic Sack of Christmas Gifts

About this drawing

An open sack of gifts is the happy ending of a tradition that begins weeks earlier, with a letter. Children in much of the world send wish lists to Santa, and in Spain they write to the Three Kings instead. The habit took off in nineteenth-century America, when magazines ran pictures of Santa reading his mail.

The US Postal Service has had to adapt. Mountains of letters addressed to the North Pole began landing in post offices, and in the early 1900s postal workers and charities started answering some of them. The Operation Santa program lets ordinary people adopt a letter and send a gift to a family in need. Canada Post also runs a popular reply program.

British children had a different method for a long time. They tossed their notes into the fireplace, trusting the smoke to carry their wishes up the chimney. Spanish kids may hand theirs to royal pages or drop them in special mailboxes in the town square. Whatever the route, teachers know a good writing exercise when they see one. Kids practice spelling and penmanship, and they learn to narrow down what they really want. Many parents ask them to add a thank-you note, or a wish for somebody else, which turns a simple list of toys into something more thoughtful.

• gift sack
• letters to santa
• ornaments
• treats