Author: Matthew Albers

Once again, it is time for Old Saint Nick to make his holiday deliveries. For those who are eagerly awaiting his arrival, they can arrange for Santa to send a letter reminding them to be patient and that he’s planning to visit on Christmas Eve.

Visit the WSU Campus Post Office in Morrison Hall to make sure Santa gets his letters to the right kids. If there’s a child who needs something a little different than what’s listed on the Post Office webpage, call 316-978-3550 or stop by during office hours from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information about other letters children can get from Santa.

Letters from Santa will be available at the Post Office for three weeks beginning Monday, Nov. 27 through Friday, Dec. 15. Each letter has a fee of $1.75, cash or check only, for postage.

Once again, the Campus Post Office will offer a variety of letters that you can choose from and have sent to a child. “A Letter from Santa” will be forwarded to the Santa Claus Post Office in Indiana for a pictorial postmarking and then sent to the addressee on the envelope.

View the available letters.

Each letter costs $1.75. The last day to purchase a letter is Friday, Dec. 16.

The Santa Claus Post Office is the only post office in the world with the Santa Claus name, and during the Christmas season, thousands of letters are mailed to Santa each year.

Once again, the Wichita State Post Office will offer a variety of Santa letters to send to a child. The letter from Santa will be forwarded to the Santa Claus Post Office in Indiana for a pictorial postmarking and then sent to the addressee on the envelope. Each letter costs $1.50. The last day to purchase a letter is Friday, Dec. 17, to allow the letters to receive the pictorial postmark.

The Santa Claus Post Office is the only post office in the world with the Santa Claus name. During the Christmas season, thousands of letters are mailed to Santa each year.

The first Santa Claus Post Office opened its doors in 1856. The town’s name did not peak interest, however, until 1914 when Santa Claus’ 14th postmaster, James Martin, began answering the children’s letters.

Soon after, people flocked to the Santa Claus Post Office to get the special postmark; so much that in the early 1930s the U.S. Postal Department suggested changing the name of the town to avoid the Christmas season frenzy.

James Martin continued answering letters and eventually enlisted Jim Yellig, famoust S to aid in helping him write back to children across the world. Today, the non-profit organization, Santa’s Elves Inc., and the Santa Claus Museum organize volunteers to answer all the children’s letters that flood this tiny post office during the holidays. In 2019 and 2020, almost 200 elves answered a total of approximately 51,000 letters.

As part of the Delivering for America 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, the U.S. Postal Service received approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission regarding the proposed price changes which will take effect Aug. 29.

The anticipated price changes would raise overall market-dominant product and service prices by approximately 6.9%. First-class mail prices would increase by 6.8% to partially offset declining revenue due to first-class mail volume declines. Additional market-dominant products, nonprofit marketing mail, media and library mail. Domestic mail services, including certified, registered and return receipt services will also experience pricing increases.

First-class pricing changes:

Domestic mail services pricing changes:

USPS Media and library pricing changes:

USPS postage rates not increasing:

• Additional ounce rate for first-class letters and flats would remain 20 cents.
• Package pricing such as priority mail, priority mail express, and first-class packages are not increasing in the new rate change.