Here's how you can get an official Santa Claus postmark on all your holiday mail

If you want to make your holiday correspondence truly unique, you can't beat a free annual tradition offered by the only post office in the world with the Santa Claus name and a postmark to match.

Each year, the Santa Claus, Indiana, post office, which is about 70 miles from Louisville on Interstate 64 West, or about 60 east from Evansville, Indiana, features a new holiday postmark to cancel the postage stamps on holiday mail. 

Thanks to its one-of-a-kind holiday postmark, the small-town post office receives over 400,000 pieces of mail in December — compared to only 13,000 pieces of mail per month the rest of the year.

"Patrons from all over the world request the Santa Claus holiday postmark. Some drive into town to personally hand cancel their holiday mail with the famous picture postmark and others request the special postmark by mail," said Postmaster Cheryl Bailey. "The famous Santa Claus postmark is a long-standing tradition for the town and it’s always fun to see the unique artwork each year."

This special picture postmark has been offered every Christmas season since 1983. Each year a contest between local high school art students decides the design. This year's postmark artist is Macey Bolin, of Santa Claus, Indiana.

The world-famous Santa Claus post office will begin offering the picture postmark on Dec. 1, but there are some guidelines you'll need to follow if you want the special cancellation on your holiday mail. Here's what to know:

• Allow at least a 2-inch by 4-inch space in the stamp area for the picture postmark
• Apply postage to cards or letters before bringing or mailing them to the post office
• The picture postmark is available on working days between Dec. 1-24
• The picture postmark must be requested by the postal customer
• To ensure a good postmark imprint, do not enclose large or bulky items in your holiday mail (Ex: reindeer food, snowflakes, glitter, stickers, etc.)
• There is no charge for postmarking; however, there is a limit of 50 picture postmarks (hand cancellations) per person per day.
• If you wish to mail Christmas cards to the post office, package them — with postage stamps already on them — in a sturdy envelope or box, and mail to: Postmaster, P.O. Box 9998, Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998

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If you choose the option to drive your holiday cards to Santa Claus, Indiana, why not enjoy a little getaway? There are plenty of holiday-related events to enjoy this time of year, many of which take place in November. There is a Santa Claus Christmas parade, Christmas Dinner with Santa, Writing a Letter to Santa, Santa Claus train ride and more. You can find details on all upcoming events at SantaClausInd.org/Events.

Reach Features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.