When the Elves and I first met, I was just a simple woodworker who enjoyed making wooden toys for the children in my village. Mrs. Claus, an expert with all manner of fabrics, made beautiful dolls, stuffed animals, and clothes for the children.

The Elves were very interested in our abilities to make and deliver toys in our village. Although we were not aware, they had been watching our activities for quite some time. One evening, after hearing some voices outside our home, Mrs. Claus and I opened our front door to find a group of very small people who appeared to be Elves quietly discussing a serious matter. We invited them into our home where the Elves began explaining their mysterious plan to bring joy and happiness by delivering toys to the children of the world. Our partnership with the Elves began.

When I first started my deliveries almost 1,700 years ago, the number of children the reindeer and I needed to visit was much, much smaller. Today, there are millions of children all over the world making our task much more challenging. And, the technologies that exist today enable the making of more complex toys — game consoles, hand-held computers, robotic toys, and so on. Many years ago, the combination of the large number of toys to be made and the complexity of the toys convinced the Elves and I that we needed help.

As is often the case, when the Elves work together to solve a problem they quickly arrive at an ingenious solution. Elves are not only the best toy makers in the world but also the most creative designers of toys. They devised a plan to travel to all parts of the globe to work with toy companies in the creation and manufacture of toys. These companies were thrilled to have the Elves working with them. One of the Elves remained with each toy company to create, design, and assist in the manufacturing of toys throughout the year. You should not be surprised to learn that many of the most well-known toys all began in the mind of an Elf.

I am still a simple toy maker at the North Pole and enjoy working with wood to create many of the toys you see at Christmas. Mrs. Claus supervises the production of dolls, stuffed animals, costumes, kites, and many other types of plush toys. Along with these more simple toys, the North Pole Workshop now manufactures many of the more complex toys of today. Combined with the efforts of the Elves at many large toy companies, an enormous number of wonderful toys for the children of the world are manufactured every year.