BROOKVILLE — With Christmas getting closer and closer, children have been scrambling to get their letters containing their Christmas gift list to Santa Claus before the big day.

It is fortunate for children who live in Brookville, getting that letter to Santa is a little bit easier.

Thanks to a special arrangement with Santa, a box to place those Christmas gift list letters so they can be delivered to the North Pole is available to the children.

The Santa letter box is on the outside of the Leiber Center in Golden Gate Park, located at 545 Upper Lewisburg-Salem Road.

Children can place their letters inside the Santa box during the time the park is open.

The letters inside the Santa box are collected by a special elf, who rushes them to Santa so he can do his best to honor the requests and place the gifts in colorful wrapped boxes underneath the children’s Christmas trees for them to open on Christmas day.

Before taking the letters to the North Pole, the elf shared a few of those letters with The Register-Herald.

From reading the letters provided by the elf, it is noted a common request from many children this year is a gift that has been a favorite of youngsters since March of 1959 – a Barbie doll.

Barbie made her debut in 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

A creation of the Mattel Company’s Ruth Handler, the first Barbie doll was introduced in both blonde and brunette.

According to today,com, the first blonde Barbie available for sale was wearing “a chic striped swimsuit and sporting a perky blond ponytail,”

The cost of a Barbie doll in 1959 was $3.

“The doll immediately took the toy world by storm, and Barbie became a household name,” today.com said.

“Around 300,000 Barbie dolls were sold during her first year on the market,” today.com continued.

Times have changed and so has Barbie. She is now diverse.

There are Barbies with various body types and skin tones and more than 94 different hairstyles.

In fact, there are Barbies who have no hair, Barbies in wheel chairs, and Barbies with prosthetic limbs.

According to Smithsonian Magazine, with all the different styles of Barbie available, Mattel has declared the doll “the most diverse doll line” on the market.

Also helping to keep Barbie on the minds of children everywhere is the 2023 Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie.

With the release of the movie, children began requesting Barbie dolls at a record pace, which has continued as Christmas day rapidly approaches.

The Barbie sales boom is also being felt in Brookville as numerous children, who dropped off their letter to Santa, have asked for a Barbie doll and the accessories that come along with it.

Peyton, in her list, told Santa she wants a Barbie doll.

Three children asked Santa to bring them some of the accessories that go with Barbie.

Eva asked Santa to bring her a Barbie DreamHouse.

Tenley asked Santa to bring her a Barbie DreamHouse and “Barbie stuff.”

Marissa also asked Santa to bring her “Barbie Stuff.”

Barbie and her accessories, however, weren’t the only gifts young girls requested in their letters to Santa.

Penny and Tenley also asked Santa to bring them a Squishmallow.

According to Forbes magazine, “Squishmallows are in effect round, cute plush toys that come in a wide variety of fluffy and cuddly animal and fruit characters, along with different sizes and colors.”

Squishmallows were created in 2017 by Kelly Toys Holdings LLC.

According to the British Broadcasting Company, Squishmallows were originally designed to help kids with conditions like autism deal with stress, but quickly became a popular toy.”

The BBC further stated Squishmallows “became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when people shared their collections on social media, and said that hugging the toys helped them to feel calmer and less anxious.”

According to thegamer.com, “there are more than 1,000 Squishmallows that come in all sizes and colors.

In addition to Squishmallows. Penny also asked Santa to bring her a baby doll with a carrier and a Gabby Dollhouse.

The Gabby Dollhouse toy is based on Gabby’s Dollhouse, an animated children’s television series created by Dreamworks. The show appears regularly on Netflix.

The animated series features Gabby, voiced by Laila Lockhart, and her furry kitty friends having adventures in Gabby’s dollhouse.

Two young men who wrote letters, politely asked Santa for one particular gift.

Both asked Santa to bring them a car.

“Dear Santa, can I have a remote car for Christmas this year? Love, Graham.”

Logan’s letter was similar.

“May I have a robot car for Christmas, please?” Logan’s letter said.

Raelynn let Santa know she “hoped” she has been good this year.

“I really try to be a good big sister,” Raelynn said in her letter.

“I try to help with Penny and my little brother,” Raelynn said.

“I (also) help around the house,” she added.

Raelynn also had a question for Santa.

“What is your favorite Christmas song?” Raelynn asked.

She thanked Santa in her letter and asked him to write back to her.

She also apologized for the condition of the paper she used to compose her letter.

“Oh, sorry there is a hole in the paper. Sorry,” Raelynn wrote.

What did Raelynn ask Santa to bring her?

“Can I have Matte nails?” Raelynn asked.

She was requesting a 24-pack of short glossy press-on nails.

“P.S. It (nails) comes with glue,” Raelynn pointed out.

While the majority of letters from children to Santa are requests for gifts, every once in a while he receives a letter from a youngster who doesn’t list what he or she wants for Christmas.

Instead, the letter just relays a bit of information the child thinks Santa should know.

One such letter came from Ellie.

“This year I’ve been really GOOD. Did you know that my class has an elf?

His name is Buddy. Like from the movie Elf ! But he doesn’t wear green.

Sincerely, Ellie.”

Children who haven’t written and sent their letter to Santa, there’s still a little time left.

For those boys and girls planning to send Santa a letter, here are a few suggestions from the United State Postal Service you should follow to make his job a little easier:

• write legibly, so Santa can understand what you are saying

• list your gift requests in order of preference

• be specific about your gift requests so Santa can easily understand what you are requesting

Although Santa already has his “naughty” and “nice” list of each boy and girl stored in his computer, it doesn’t hurt to remind him you have been good this year.

Children may place their letters in the Santa Box in Golden Gate Park and Santa will do his best to fulfill every request.

And remember, if you don’t get everything on your list this Christmas, there’s always next year.

Merry Christmas.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].