In One Ear: Dear Santa

Published 6:00 am Thursday, December 18, 2025

The Oregon Digital Newspaper Program notes that children were writing Dear Santa letters to newspapers by at least 1874. 

The oldest Oregon letter is from The Daily Morning Astorian, Dec. 19, 1890: “Dear Santa Claus, bring my little sister a doll and a doll wagon and some candy and some nuts and some peanuts, and a tin horn. Bring me an air gun and a buck saw and a knife and some candy and some nuts and some peanuts. Frank.”

From the Sunday Oregonian Dec. 21, 1919: “Dear Santa Clause. I’ve been waiting for you a long time. I am nine months old. I want a trunk full of silk dresses and a necklace with my Mother’s picture and a ring, with a ruby. I’ve been a awful good girl. From Arvilla.”

And, an undated Ohio letter: “Dear Santa Claus, we have moved. We don’t live where we used to … Our chimney is small, but we have a trap door, and you can come down easy. Louie Buckius.”