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Letters to Santa Claus
By Mandy Hussey Indiana University Press
Copyright © 2015 Indiana University Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-253-01794-9
FOREWORD
As Santa's daughter, I have a special appreciation for Christmas. Growing up near the southern Indiana town of Santa Claus only deepened this feeling. In Santa Claus, Indiana, the spirit of Christmas is a gift we experience all year round. Our litt le town is home to a thriving community of about 2,300 residents who live on streets named Mistletoe and Rudolph, eat lunch at Frosty's or St. Nick's, and shop for groceries at Holiday Foods. To the casual observer, we may simply appear as a quirky place that clearly enjoys the Christmas season. But dig a little deeper, and you'll realize there is more to Christmas in Santa Claus than festive names and candy-striped street crossings. This community takes pride in its traditions and holds a legacy that dates back over one hundred and fifty years.
My father's full name was Raymond Joseph Yellig, and he didn't just play Santa Claus-he was Santa Claus. It was his calling, his passion, his mission. He was born in 1894 in the small town of Mariah Hill, Indiana, about four miles north of Santa Claus. He served in the Navy during World War I, and while stationed in Brooklyn, New York, he was asked to play Santa Claus at a party his ship hosted for underprivileged children in the neighborhood. Being a boy from a town called Santa Claus, it seemed like a perfect fit. My father loved the experience and prayed to God that if he made it through the war, he would forever be Santa Claus.
He did, indeed, survive the war and returned home to marry his childhood sweetheart, my mother, Isabelle. My father took his vow seriously and spent his life as Santa Jim Yellig. He worked at Santa Claus Land (today known as Holiday World & Splashin' Safari) for nearly forty years and listened to the Christmas wishes of over one million children. He appeared in radio programs, parades, print ads, and game shows. He was truly the face of Santa Claus, Indiana, for many, many years.
My father started helping the postmaster of Santa Claus, James Martin, in 1930. Every year, children from across the United States mailed their letters to Santa Claus, and those letters turned up in Santa Claus, Indiana. Postmaster Martin was trying to respond to every letter that arrived. He needed help, and my father was more than happy to give it. He'd bring boxes of letters home, and years after his death, I was still finding letters he'd answered scattered throughout the house. He was one of the greatest men I've ever known. "Happiness is what it's all about," he once said. "I make kids happy."
I've always tried to take this lesson to heart. My own involvement with the Santa letters began in 1944. I started helping my father answer letters when I was twelve years old. I remember my mother admonishing him to move the tablecloth out of the way before he upended bags of letters and started writing—she didn't want ink all over her furniture.
I grew up, moved away, and thought my life had taken a completely different turn. But my father grew ill, and I returned to southern Indiana to help where I could. Bill Koch, whose father had started Santa Claus Land, picked me up at the train station, and we were married in 1960. Together, he and I devoted our lives to Santa Claus Land and the town of Santa Claus, where we raised our five children. I've lived most of my life in or near this Christmas town, where children from around the world still send their most heartfelt desires, and I know how truly special it is to live in a small town where the Christmas spirit surrounds you every day.
I have always believed in the importance of preserving history. I founded the Santa Claus Museum in 2006 to preserve and interpret the history of Santa Claus, Indiana, and filled it with a collection of wonderful photographs, artifacts, and Santa Claus Land memorabilia that documents the history of our town.
Eventually, our little museum outgrew its original location in Kringle Place and moved to a spot in the old town of Santa Claus, adjacent to the giant Santa Claus statue, which was built in 1935. In addition to the museum and statue, the new location is also home to the historic 1880 Deutsch Evangelische St. Paul's Kirche (or Santa Claus Church) and the Original Santa Claus Post Office from 1856.
Relocated several times before coming to rest at the Santa Claus Museum & Village, the post office is a wonderful space where visitors can still get a sense of how letters for Santa arrived a hundred years ago. Though the building has not been used as a post office since the late 1800s, it has been renovated to resemble the old-fashioned post office it once was. Today, children can sit at antique school desks and write their letters to Santa Claus. And in the back, another group gathers to answer them—letter after letter.
The Original Santa Claus Post Office serves as the headquarters for Santa's Elves, a non-profit group that merged with the museum in 2006. Each Christmas season, a dedicated cadre of volunteer elves gathers to help Santa answer all of the letters that arrive in town each year. It is a continuation of the tradition started by James Martin and kept alive by subsequent postmasters, by my father, Santa Jim, and now by me.
As I grow older, the importance of remembering our history and where we came from looms large in my mind. I realize how essential traditions are. I am proud of what our town has accomplished and incredibly grateful to all of the elves who donate so much time each year to ensure that each and every child who writes a letter to Santa Claus receives a response.
If you stop by the Santa Claus Museum, you'll see an exhibit featuring letters to Santa Claus sent from children around the world. Thanks to this book, you can now take home some of our favorites—maybe there's even one here from your grandmother or grandfather. I am excited to share our collection of wonderful letters with you and wish you a very Merry Christmas, all year long.
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Excerpted from Letters to Santa Claus by Mandy Hussey. Copyright © 2015 Indiana University Press. Excerpted by permission of Indiana University Press.
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