Craig Baird
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thread 1/8
It is probably the most famous postal code in Canada, and it is how generations of children have written to Santa Claus.

This is the story of H0H 0H0 and how it came to be!

Everything started back in 1973 when a few Canada Post employees began to answer the letters that were sent in to Santa.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 2/8
These letters went to Canada Post's undeliverable mail office headquarters for each region. Vancouver was the headquarters for Western Canada, and they received 4,000 letters in 1973.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 3/8
There was nowhere for the letters to go, so the Canada Post employees decided to bring some joy to the lives of Canadian children with replies.
Typically the letters were simply addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole”.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 4/8
This continued to be a small local effort to start with but it soon began to spread across Canada.

In 1982, it became a nationwide project through Canada Post and quickly grew in scope at that point.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 5/8
Postmaster Roy Debolt stated in 1982 that the idea was to make Christmas a little warmer and more complete for children who write to Santa Claus.
Many of the first volunteers at this point were individuals who had retired from Canada Post.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 6/8
Between 1982 and 2006, thousands of postage workers, both current and retired, volunteered their time to answer 14 million letters from Canadian children.
By 2010, that number of letters had grown to 18.5 million.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
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thread 7/8
Today, over 25 million letters have been received since 1982 and answered by volunteers.

Letters don't just come from Canada, but from across the world.
As a result, letters arrive in many different languages and they are answered in the language they are written in, including braille.

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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Craig Baird
A
thread 8/8
The postal code is further proof that Santa Claus is Canadian :)

If you enjoy my Canadian history work, you can support my work with a donation at https://www.buymeacoffee.c...

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09:46 AM - Dec 01, 2023
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