SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — The Santa Claus, Indiana, Post Office picked the picture postmark for the upcoming holiday season.
This famous small-town post office is the only one in the world with the Santa Claus name and receives more than 400,000 pieces of mail in December.
The Santa Claus Post Office has offered the special postmark every holiday season since 1983. It is designed by a local high school student, and this year, that was Allison Hoffman.
“Patrons from all over the world request the Santa Claus holiday postmark. Some drive into town to personally hand cancel their holiday mail with the famous picture postmark and others request the special postmark by mail,” postmaster Cheryl Bailey said. “The famous Santa Claus postmark is a long-standing tradition for the town and it’s always fun to see the unique artwork each year.”
Anyone interested in getting the special cancellation on their holiday mail should 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, P.O. Box 9998, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998
- The picture postmark is available on working days between Dec. 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.
On Friday, Dec. 1, the post office will begin offering the picture postmark.
