History of the North Pole

Thomas Nast established Santa's workshop and official residence at the North Pole in four different drawings between 1879 and 1886. On January 4, 1879, Harper’s Weekly published "A Christmas Post," showing a girl putting a letter in the mailbox, addressed to St. Claus, North Pole. The sketch titled "The Shine of Saint Nicholas" published on December 31, 1882, showed good children at the North Pole; Santa was seated on a box with the inscription "Saint Nicholas, North Pole." Harper’s Weekly on December 19, 1885 published "Santa Claus’s Route," a sketch showing two children looking at a map of the world and tracing Santa's journey from the North Pole to the United States. Finally, in "Santa Claus and His Works," printed in Harper’s Weekly in 1886, Nast showed Santa and his workshop at Santa Claussville, North Pole. In 1869, American writer George P. Webster published Santa Claus and His Works and took up this idea, explaining that Santa's toy factory and "his house, during the long summer months, was hidden in the ice and snow of the North Pole". Although his name did not appear on the cover, the seven color illustrations were provided by Nast, who gave us a look at the red and white suit of Santa. Many of the illustrations in the book were colorized expansions of the woodcuts from Harper’s Weekly. The other 'North Pole' story... Children naturally wanted to know where Santa Claus actually came from. Where did he live when he wasn't delivering presents? Those questions gave rise to the legend that Santa Claus lived at the North Pole, where his Christmas-gift workshop was also located. In 1925, since grazing reindeer would not be possible at the North Pole, newspapers revealed that Santa Claus in fact lived in Finnish Lapland. "Uncle Markus", Markus Rautio, who compared the popular "Children's hour" on Finnish public radio, revealed the great secret for the first time in 1927: Santa Claus lives on Lapland's Korvatunturi - "Ear Fell" The fell, which is situated directly on Finland's eastern frontier, somewhat resembles a hare's ears - which are in fact Santa Claus's ears, with which he listens to hear if the world's children are being nice. Santa has the assistance of a busy group of elves, who have quite their own history in Scandinanvian legend. Over the centuries, customs from different parts of the Northern Hemisphere thus came together and created the whole world's Santa Claus - the ageless, timeless, deathless white-bearded man who gives out gifts on Christmas and always returns to Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland. Since the 1950s, Santa has happily sojourned at Napapiiri, near Rovaniemi, at times other than Christmas, to meet children and the young at heart. By 1985 his visits to Napapiiri had become so regular that he established his own Santa Claus Office there. He comes there every day of the year to hear what children want for Christmas and to talk with children who have arrived from around the world. Santa Claus Village is also the location of Santa's main Post Office, which receives children's letters from the four corners of the world. Thanks For Visiting