Santa Claus’ Main Post Office delved into letters to Santa Claus. Thousands of letters from around the world show that, as expected, toys are the most desired wishes. However, behind the toy wishes is also the desire for time together.
Santa Claus’ Main Post Office in Rovaniemi receives mail from all over the world. Santa Claus has received around 25 million letters from more than 200 countries – even those that no longer exist. During the busiest pre-Christmas period, Santa Claus receives about 30,000 letters every day.
For the first time at Santa Claus’ Main Post Office, the contents of letters were examined as a single entity. The goal was to find the big picture behind the wishes. For this purpose, more than 6,000 letters from 45 different countries were reviewed. The letters were anonymized in order to preserve the secrecy of correspondence.
Santa Claus is carefully instructed about the desired toys
It was no surprise that the most requested items in Santa's letters are toys (67.2%). They are wished for 50 times more often than pets (1.3%) and almost 400 times more often than new family members (0.2%).
"It is typical that the toy request is taken from toy magazines or TV commercials of the era. The type of toy is often specified in the wishes, and the price may also be mentioned. Often children may cut out a picture of their wishes from a toy magazine and glue it to a letter, or even include an entire toy magazine and mark their wishes in the toy magazine," comments Elina, an elf at Santa Claus’ Main Post Office.
Behind toy wishes are hopes for bigger things
But children's Christmas wishes aren't just for material things – they're invitations to shared play, stories, and memories that last longer than any toy. Basically, the best gifts for Christmas are moments that are shared together.
"Mostly children want things to play with, put together, or tinker with," comments Elina the elf from Santa Claus’ Main Post Office.
Riikka Riihonen, a specialist in child psychiatry, highlights the important side behind toy wishes:
"All children need toys to play. But toys also help adults settle into play. Interaction between a child and a parent is the best gift a child can receive. That's why playing and doing things together is so valuable."
The importance of being together and caring cannot be underestimated. In addition to toy wishes, the letters also reflect children's increased worries and wishes for time together:
"New wishes have been for worry eaters and stress toys related to the feeling of security. Many of the letters also repeat wishes that families would see each other or that there would be much more time to spend together," says Elina, the same elf at Santa Claus’ Main Post Office.
Riihonen has a good tip for Christmas playtime: "Although it is very important to be present, it is also good to give children space for play and spending time together. For children, mayhem and spreading play can be valuable activities. That's exactly how play should be – varied situations and living togetherness."
The artist's vision of the "Wish of Wishes" was compiled from the toy wishes
Based on the letters, a playful Wish of Wishes was created – a combination of toys requested from Santa Claus. It was built as a synthesis of studying letters, interviews with employees of Santa Claus’ Main Post Office, and a digital artist's vision. Wishes for doing things together are visible in all the building blocks of the Wish of Wishes.
"For example, children's letters ask for gifts to compete with as a family. In the Wish of Wishes, this translates into football. The stuffed toy-like head of the Wish of Wishes comes from the desire to have a toy that you can fall asleep with in your father's arms. The letters also ask for toys that can be built with mother – these wishes form the body of our toy. These and other parts of the toy bring out the wishes behind the toy wishes for being together," sums up Elina the elf from Santa Claus' Main Post Office.