Here's when and how to mail your letters to Santa this holiday season

PHILADELPHIA - This weekend, the United States Post Office will get your letter to Santa! 

Here's what to do:

Write a letter or card to Santa.

Slide it in an envelope, and then help out Santa by writing his address as the return address:

SANTA

NORTH POLE

Next, address that envelope with your home address. Add a stamp. After that, put that fully addressed letter with postage in a big envelope. Add postage and your return address to that big envelope and address it to:

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY POSTMARK

POSTMASTER

4141 POSTMARK DR

ANCHORAGE, AK 99530-9998

The Post Office in Anchorage will get your letter to North Pole, Alaska. That town is near Fairbanks.

From there, the folks at the North Pole, Alaska, Post Office will get your letter up to THE North Pole.  

Santa will read your mail, and his elves will mail it back to you with a North Pole stamp on the front of the letter so you know he saw it. He won't have time to write back.

By the way, you can get your holiday cards mailed out from that North Pole, Fairbanks post office. Just address your holiday cards as normal and add a stamp for each one.  Put them all in a big envelope addressed to

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY POSTMARK

POSTMASTER

4141 POSTMARK DR

ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

They'll get it up to that North Pole, Alaska, post office, and your letters will have a postmark with that.

There are other post offices around the country that will do that for you, like Santa Claus, Illionis.  A list of holiday-named towns can be found here.

Now, there is one catch: you need to send out your letter to Santa or holiday cards this weekend so there's enough time to get it to the North Pole or North Pole, Alaska, and back by Christmas.  

If this weekend is too soon, you could always drop off your cards at the Bethlehem Post Office in the Lehigh Valley.  Bethlehem is known as the Christmas City, and the Post Office there has special postmarks for your cards.