October 12, 2010
The Santa Claus, Indiana, Post Office has selected the 2010 special “picture postmark” for this Christmas season. The post office is offering the “picture postmark” to cancel the postage stamps on holiday mail in December again this year.
This small-town post office is the only one in the world with the Santa Claus name and receives over 400,000 pieces of mail in December. During the rest of the year, only 13,000 pieces of mail are processed each month. The Santa Claus Post Office has offered a special “picture postmark” every holiday season since 1983.
Each year, the holiday postmark is de
signed by a local high school art student as part of an annual contest. This year’s winner is Shelbi Boehman, daughter of Tracey Gelarden and Jeff Boehman of Fulda, Indiana. While she attended Heritage Hills High School in the fall, Shelbi is now studying at Indiana University Southeast and will major in graphic design.
“The Santa Claus holiday postmark has become the most popular in the nation over the past two decades,” says Postmaster Marian Balbach. “Postal patrons worldwide request the picture postmark each year and many customers traditionally drive hundreds of miles to personally obtain the famous cancellation on their holiday mail,” says Balbach.
According to Postmaster Balbach, a gentleman from Chicago, who used to play the role of Santa Claus, drives over six hours to the post office every year to receive the special cancellation on his Christmas mail; this has been a tradition of more than six years.
She asks that anyone interested in getting the special cancellation on their holiday mail to follow these guidelines:
• Allow at least a 2-inch by 4-inch space in the stamp area for the picture postmark;
• Apply postage to cards or letters before bringing or mailing them to the post office;
• If you wish to mail Christmas cards to the post office, package them—with postage stamps already on them—in a sturdy envelope or box, and mail to: Postmaster, Santa Claus Station, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998;
• The picture postmark is available on working days between December 1 and 24;
• The picture postmark must be requested by the postal customer;
• To ensure a good postmark imprint, do not enclose large or bulky items in your holiday mail (Ex: reindeer food, snowflakes, glitter, stickers, etc.);
• There is no charge for postmarking; however, there is a limit of 50 picture postmarks (hand cancellations) per person per day.
America’s Christmas Hometown: Santa Claus, Indiana, will host a celebration of family fun on the first three weekends in December. Events include a traditional Christmas Dinner with Santa; lighting of America’s Hometown Christmas Tree; “Santa Claus Land of Lights,” a 1.2-mile driving journey; Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire and much more.
For more information or a schedule of Christmas events in Spencer County, visit www.LegendaryPlaces.org/special-events or call the Visitors Bureau at (888) 444-9252.
