The small town of Rudolph, Wisconsin, (500 residents, to be exact) has been gearing up for yet another busy holiday season. This town does something a little special to their holiday cards and packages, which is why so many people choose to mail their cards and gifts through the Central Wisconsin post office. Each year, the post office receives roughly 50,000 Christmas cards.
Classic stamp
There is a unique red stamp of the image of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer wearing a scarf and Santa hat printed onto every envelope and package that goes through the post office. The text accompanied with the picture reads “Rudolph, Wisconsin, Home of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The post office stamp has been a tradition here for nearly 60 years. The stamp emerged back in 1945 thanks to Postmaster Lillian Blonien. It originally started out as a Girl Scout project.
Holiday tradition
This festive stamp has become a part of many people’s holiday traditions – even for people who don’t live right in Rudolph. One woman, Judy Schiferl, lives 20 miles northwest of the town in Hewitt, Wisconsin, but she continues to visit the special post office year after year. In fact, she has been getting her packages and envelopes stamped there for the past 10 years.
Despite the amount of cards being mailed in this small town, the post office only has one Postmaster, one clerk and two rural letter carriers. Somehow every year, these hardworking employees manage to process 1,000 cards every day. The post office said that they start receiving letters and cards as early as March.
Special 50th anniversary stamp
This year may be especially busy for the little post office because they’re issuing a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stamp celebrating the popular television movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”