The mail, all addressed to Santa Claus, comes in sack loads every day. Every American child knows that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, and so writes him a letter at that address – North Pole, Alaska. The beneficiary is the 2,000 inhabitants town of North Pole in the US State of Alaska. Even though the town is close to the Arctic Circle, it’s still 2,700 kilometres from the earth’s axis (the real North Pole). The town is deluged with 450,000 letters annually – as it celebrates Christmas all year round. ”Actually it was just a publicity idea,” says Paul Brown, who runs a gift shop in the town near Fairbanks. ”When the town was founded in 1953 the elders decided to try and attract business. How could toy companies resist a label ‘Made in North Pole’?” Brown asks. So the town built its year-long promotion around Yuletide. The streetlights look like candy canes and the fire engines sport Christmas wreaths in June. The entrance to the town displays what residents say is the largest Santa statue in the world: it is 16 metres tall.
This dedication to Christmas also brings responsibilities: almost half a million letters a year arrive addressed to ‘Santa Claus, North Pole’, and have to be answered. Local students do the job. Volunteering to be a Santa Elf is an obligation for people who live in North Pole.
”It’s not so bad to be able to celebrate Christmas the whole year. Actually it’s quite funny,” says Brown. “Of course it’s also stressful. Like the real Christmas.” But every visitor comes in a good mood. “Even customers in their eighties enter our store behaving like kids.” Of course North Pole also has reindeers. Rebecca Jones looks after them. ”When I was at college, after my time in the Army, I noticed a reindeer programme at the university. I was so fascinated that I said that I would take care of their entire poop, if I could learn everything about these intriguing animals. So I became a reindeer handler.”
Right now her attention is on five young animals that were born last year. “Reindeers are very individualistic. They need a lot of attention,” she says. No wonder Santa chose them to pull his sled.
North Pole’s Father Christmas takes his job very seriously. When asked his real name he looks puzzled, and says “Nicholas!” Then he leans forward and whispers, “Don’t believe the story with the bishop; I’m just a simple toymaker.”
Every day, even in high summer, children come to sit on his lap and recite what gifts they want for Christmas. This Santa is always conscious of what parents can afford. “I am child-friendly, but also parent-friendly. I make no promises that parents have difficulty in keeping.”
Occasionally his job can be tough. ”Sometimes a little one tells me his only wish is that his mommy comes home; or that granddad comes back. Then you need strength.” One boy asked him if he would fly to Afghanistan with his reindeer and bring his father home. ”The mother told me later that the father indeed returned home for Christmas. They had a big, wrapped box delivered to their home and suddenly Daddy jumped out of that. When I hear stories like that I know I have the best job in the whole wide world,” signs off Santa.
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