In 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to allow employees and citizens to respond to letters addressed to Santa Claus, and the program became known as Operation Santa.
In the 1940s, mail volume increased to the point where the Post Office Department invited charities and corporations to participate for philanthropic purposes, providing written responses and small gifts.
Over the years, the show took on a life of its own. And today, cities across the country have established successful programs with well-known charities, major corporations, local businesses, and postal service employees, making a huge difference in the lives of children from coast to coast.
In 2017, work began on the usps digital operation santa program. The pilot test was carried out in New York City. only nyc letters populated the site and adopters must be close to james a. farley post office in manhattan because packages had to be shipped from that facility. Puerto Rico was included after hurricanes impacted the island and its residents that year. packages for both destinations had to be shipped from the farley building.
In 2018, the Postal Service expanded the 2017 pilot to include additional locations (Austin, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico and Chico, CA (site of major wildfires that year) ). letters from those places filled the website and only people in those places could adopt them. packages had to be shipped from a designated post office at each location.
In 2019, the digital program expanded even further. letters from 17 places filled the website and anyone in the country could adopt them. packages can be shipped from over 19,000 post offices across the country.
In 2020, the program was extended to the entire country. letters were accepted from everywhere and anyone could adopt them. Letters were to be sent to Santa’s official US mailing address: 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888. Packages could be sent from 19,000 post offices across the country.
The goal for the future is, and always has been, to help more children and families in need have a happy holiday when they otherwise couldn’t, one letter to Santa at a time.