“Dear Santa, I wish for a doll’s house… and for corona to stop.”
That was one of the hundreds of hopeful letters posted to Father Christmas across the islands, putting a smile on the faces of Maltapost staff already working flat out to deliver this year’s flood of parcels.
“We’ve received hundreds, much more than usual. We started receiving them as early as October,” marketing officer Mary Grace Farrugia told Times of Malta, producing two boxes filled with letters.
They’re decorated and colourful. Some are sealed in an envelope but many are not enclosed.
“We make sure not to touch any of those that are sealed but take a peek at the open ones before they continue on their journey to Santa,” Farrugia said.
There are the usual wishlists, ranging from simple toys and clothes to expensive phones and laptops.
And some are delightful, with many children showing their concern for Santa’s health in this age of the pandemic.
“Dear Santa, I hope you are not sick,” one little girl started off before going on to share her heart’s desires. And they were just as thoughtful: gifts for the whole family including “a jacket for mummy” and “chocolate for daddy”.
Another girl asked Santa to give priority to poor children: “Dear Santa, I hope you are alright. Please can you bring me something? But first, please, buy for those children who are a bit poor,” she wrote before revealing her own wish: lip gloss.
Some children asked an end to the pandemic. One boy wrote that he wished “for my parents to be happy” and another declared: “I wish to stop fighting with my sister.”
An extra favour was solicited by one child: “Please give my favourite reindeer Rudolph a hug from me.”
The letters are dropped in 500 post boxes around the islands.
“The majority don’t carry a postage stamp but we still make sure they get to Santa... we send them all to the Santa Claus main post office, in Finland,” Farrugia said.
Every Christmas, Maltapost offers a personalised letter-for-Santa service against a minimal charge donated to the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation.
And, at Santa’s post office, at the Malta Postal Museum, in Valletta, children are invited to write and post their letters to the North Pole.