Santa Claus, Indiana

I caught a little Radio Shack ad mentioning the town of Santa Claus, Indiana. After doing a bit of digging, I found out it's a very tiny town that was named on December 24, 1852 {how appropiate!} and everything is Christmas themed like Holiday World {a theme park}, Santa's Candy Castle, St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Kringle Place {a shopping center}, Holiday Foods {a grocery store}, Silent Night Cafe, Lake Rudolph Campground & R.V. Resort, Santa Claus Museum, Frosty's Fun Center {miniature golf and arcade}, Santa's Lodge and even Santa's Medical Center.

The town's post office is especially special. It's the Santa Claus Post Office and people flock there every year to have their Christmas cards stamped with a special postmark. Every year they choose the design of the Santa postmark from submissions from art students, and it's the only Santa Claus postmark in the US during Christmas time.

Each year, 10,000 letters addressed to Santa Claus are sent to the Santa Claus Post Office and volunteers with the non-profit organization, Santa’s Elves, answer all of these letters. It's a tradition that was started back in 1914 when Santa Claus’ 14th postmaster, James Martin, answered the children's letters himself.

If you'd like to mail your Christmas cards to be stamped with the special postmark, make sure they have correct postage, and mail them to: Postmaster, Santa Claus Station, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998. Make sure you specifically request to have them stamped with the Santa Claus postmark. There is no charge for the postmarking, but there is a limit of 50 per customer per day.