The North Pole Post Office is one of the busiest places at the North Pole. Our North Pole Chat for September was held with Postmaster Elf Hugo, who runs the North Pole Post Office.

The North Pole Post Office not only handles letters and wish lists for Santa they field questions from around the world and process the mail for thousands of elves living at the North Pole.

In this discussion Elf Hugo talks about why the post office is so busy and how they handle all the special requests that Santa receives.

Chat Transcript

Elf Ernest	We welcome you all to North Pole Chat today. Our guest is Elf Hugo Slavia, postmaster of the North Pole Post Office
Slimey C	hello
Elf Ernest	Welcome, Hugo!
Elf Hugo	Hi Ernest. Thank you for having me
Elf Ernest	Hugo, is Santa getting a lot of mail already?
Slimey C	im here
Elf Hugo	Yes. It’s not Christmas Eve, but business is brisk
Elf Hugo	Hello Slimey C
Slimey C	hey! how are you Hugo!
Elf Ernest	Are there seasons for the North Pole Post Office?
Slimey C	Elf Hugo*
Elf Hugo	Not really. We never take a day off
Elf Hugo	Doing well, Slimey
Elf Ernest	How many elves work in the post office at the North Pole?
Elf Hugo	We just crossed 15,000
Elf Ernest	Oh my.
Elf Ernest	That is a lot more than I imagined.
Elf Hugo	Yes, the North Pole gets a lot of mail
Elf Ernest	what is “a lot”?
Elf Hugo	Our new daily average just passed 14 million pieces of mail a day for September
Elf Ernest	My goodness
Slimey C	wow
Elf Ernest	Of course, you’re handling the mail for more than just Santa, correct?
Elf Ernest	Who else gets mail besides Santa?
Elf Hugo	Oh most of the elves get mail
Slimey C	thats so cool!
Elf Ernest	Who are the most popular elves?
Elf Hugo	Well, Crash gets a lot of mail
Slimey C	so much mail curculating in and out of the north pole
Elf Ernest	I thought you’d say that
Elf Hugo	Yes, the post office is one of the busiest places at the North Pole. We operate 24 hours a day
Elf Ernest	How much mail comes in via the Internet versus regular mail?
Slimey C	can I send a letter to you Hugo?
Elf Hugo	Most mail is over the Internet these days
Elf Hugo	Of course, Slimey
Elf Hugo	But I don’t get much mail myself.
Slimey C	Ill send you a letter today! Ill address it to Elf Hugo
Elf Ernest	Why do you think people write letters to elves?
Elf Hugo	I think it is because they have questions
Elf Hugo	Crash gets a lot of mail just because he’s on the radio a lot
Elf Hugo	Plus, he’s honest
Elf Ernest	Yes, a lot of people like Crash. He’s a straight shooter
Slimey C	haha
Elf Ernest	What about Mrs. Claus…does she get a lot of mail?
Elf Hugo	She does, which is surprising because she is NOT on the radio a lot and does not write a lot of stuff for SantaUpdate.com
Elf Ernest	So why do you think she gets so much mail?
Slimey C	thats interesting
Elf Hugo	I think it is because there is not much known about her
Elf Hugo	And I think people want to know more about her
Elf Hugo	I’ve been told that is part of Elf Trixie’s job this year – to educate people about Mrs. Claus and answer questions about her
Elf Ernest	Yes, that is true. I have talked to her about it.
Slimey C	My phone is about to die
Elf Hugo	I think that will make more mail come her way than ever. Mrs. Claus is popular
Elf Hugo	Sorry about that Slimey
Slimey C	will I be able to read the chat after its over?
Elf Ernest	Hugo, we have seen a lot of mail recently from teachers
Elf Hugo	Yes, that is true. School is back!
Elf Ernest	Yes, Slimey
Elf Ernest	We will post it
Slimey C	gotcha sounds good
Elf Hugo	Schools can send a LOT of mail
Slimey C	I really appreciate you guys doing these chats, they really help make me and a lot of other people’s days better
Elf Hugo	Every time we get a teacher involved we get classrooms full of students who mail in
Elf Ernest	Thank you, Slimey
Slimey C	in case my phone dies ill say bye right now
Elf Ernest	That’s really cool, Hugo
Elf Ernest	Bye Slimey!
Elf Hugo	Thank you, Slimey!
Slimey C	thank you!
Elf Hugo	Yes, I actually love the letters from students, Ernest
Elf Hugo	They are always polite
Elf Hugo	And the spelling is usually spotless.
Elf Hugo	I love the work teachers do
Elf Ernest	Do you have elves over there that specialize in working with the schools?
Elf Hugo	We do. It is important because their needs are always a little different.
Elf Ernest	How so?
Elf Hugo	Well, a teacher wants a point to their interaction. So the questions are usually very specific and sometimes really different
Elf Ernest	Really? So what are the kinds of things they ask?
Elf Hugo	They will ask questions specific to where the school is located.
Elf Hugo	The will ask questions related to history, geography and things of math and science
Elf Ernest	Oh wow
Elf Ernest	So you need some really smart elves there to answer those questions.
Elf Hugo	Yes. Exactly. And if they don’t have answers they have to know where to get answers
Elf Ernest	So if a teacher wants something special…do they ask the Post Office Department?
Elf Hugo	Well, that’s where they start. We try to get them to the right person.
Elf Ernest	Do you get a lot of applications for new elves over there?
Elf Hugo	Well, no. We steer people to SantaTrackers.net but we don’t handle elf applications. There’s a team just for that over there
Elf Ernest	Ok. We get so much feedback from tracker elves I wonder how it gets handled
Elf Hugo	Well, the thing to remember is they are elves. So they fall under the direction of Flight Command
Elf Ernest	So if a tracker elf wants to send in a wish list to Santa they contact Flight Command?
Elf Hugo	No, they use the same forms for Santa everyone else does, then we handle it. But in their elf duties, they have places at [link src=”SantaTrackers.net”] for that
Elf Ernest	Oh, I see. So it just depends where they input their information
Elf Hugo	Right
Elf Ernest	Ok. What are some of the most unusual pieces of mail you see come through?
Elf Hugo	We see mail come in from all over the world. That mail will reflect the people who send it and where they are from
Elf Hugo	For example, in India there are a lot of people who do not know a thing about Santa. So they will write in very basic questions. They are always nice, respectful and sweet. But they have some really basic questions.
Elf Hugo	We love their letters
Elf Hugo	But they won’t write into to Santa until they know more about him
Elf Hugo	So we get a lot of mail that we answer from there, versus having Santa handle that mail. It’s just information they want
Elf Ernest	Do you read Santa’s mail?
Elf Hugo	No. If something comes in addressed to Santa, it goes to his office
Elf Ernest	Hugo, this is a sensitive question and maybe you know the answer or not
Elf Ernest	But how does Santa read all his mail?
Elf Hugo	You’re right, he gets a lot of it. He can get more mail in a minute than any elf here gets in a year
Elf Hugo	He has a very private and large staff in his office who work on Santa’s mail
Elf Hugo	I don’t know how they are organized. But I know Santa has a system
Elf Ernest	It must be an organized effort.
Elf Hugo	It is. We get “emergency” mail for Santa all the time. I have certain people over there that kind of mail goes to. They know what to do with it.
Elf Ernest	So you can kind of say Santa has his OWN post office in his office?
Elf Hugo	Yes. That’s correct. These are personal assistant elves. Very skilled. Very trusted.
Elf Hugo	And always around Santa
Elf Ernest	We hear a lot of complaints about Santa not writing back
Elf Hugo	Yes, we do too. But flks need to realize Santa doesn’t have time to write back a lot of the time
Elf Hugo	I hear he does leave notes in stockings when he arrives in a home on Christmas Eve
Elf Ernest	Yes, I hear that too
Elf Hugo	But during the year, even during slow months like April, Santa really does not have time for return mail
Elf Ernest	I think that’s why we have the Public Relations Department that puts up the websites and publishes the updates and such
Elf Hugo	That’s right. Santa makes sure we all work hard to answer questions that way
Elf Hugo	It is much more efficient than sending out one letter at a time
Elf Ernest	Hugo, we are reaching that time of year where a lot of questions will come in about stocking mail
Elf Hugo	Yes, sir. That’s true.
Elf Ernest	What is stocking mail?
Elf Hugo	Stocking Mail is a special last minute system of sending hard copy mail to the North Pole in the last day or two before Christmas
Elf Ernest	Why is it only used the last day or two before Christmas?
Elf Hugo	Well, it’s not perfect technology. It takes a lot of elves to pull off. And we just don’t have the elf power to sustain it longer than that
Elf Ernest	What do you mean it’s not perfect technology?
Elf snow	Hi
Elf Hugo	Well, not all stockings are made of the same stuff. Some letters just don’t make it. So we don’t rely on it
Elf Hugo	We only start it when Santa says so and we always pray that it works
Elf Ernest	I see.
Elf Ernest	So it cannot be used now?
Elf Hugo	No, it will not work now in September. It’s not supported.
Elf Hugo	Usually, one the day before Christmas, I will let Santa know when we are overwhelmed with mail and then he will start it up
Elf Hugo	Usually that announcement will go out on Kringle Radio and SantaUpdate.com
Elf Hugo	Hi Elf Snow
Elf Ernest	Thanks, great answer Hugo
Elf Ernest	We have just a minute or two left…any last questions for Hugo?
Elf snow	Hi
Elf Ernest	Hugo, thanks for joining us today. Good luck handling all the mail this year for Santa!
Elf Hugo	Thanks for having me, Ernest. Merry Christmas, everyone!