Ho ho ho! Welcome to the North Pole! Please come in. Stamp the snow off your shoes, make yourself comfortable, and we shall take a tour of Santa's magical toy workshop.

Many years ago, Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus, established this castle of Christmas cheer at a remote location on the icy wastes of the Arctic. Far away from the distractions of modern life, Santa and his helpful elves prepare for next year's holiday.

For 364 days, the great toymaker and his assistants busily build fun playthings to delight children as well as grownups. On Christmas Eve, when their work is at last complete, the elves load all these precious gifts onto a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer, and jolly old St. Nicholas dashes away to drop them in the stockings of good boys and girls around the globe.

Look at the time! It's getting late and the elves are in a frenzy to finish the last gifts before midnight on Christmas Eve. Step quietly so that we do not disturb them in their work.

First we go to the top of the tower, to see the office where Santa and Mrs. Claus receive letters from children all over the world. Here comes another air mail delivery! The elves help open the letters, sort them and catalog them, while Santa makes his list and checks it twice to see which children are naughty or nice. In olden days, Santa kept an eye on who's been bad or good with a powerful telescope, but nowadays the elves use computers to update their database more efficiently.

Downstairs from the office, the design department is coming up with new games and toys. The research and development group is always eager to work on ideas submitted by children, especially if they are accompanied by drawings and diagrams.

The new toy concepts are prototyped and beta-tested in the belfry off the stair landing. Here as well, Quality Control checks to make sure all the jingle bells ring, all the balls bounce high, and all the trains run on time. The elves who work in this room have the most fun of everyone at the North Pole, but they also have the most bumps and bruises.

Down the staircase there is a portrait gallery of the family and friends of Santa Claus. In various parts of the world gifts for children are delivered by the Three Kings, Grandfather Frost, the Christkindl, or by Befana, who drops toys down the chimney from her broomstick. At the foot of the stairs is the oldest image of Saint Nicholas from when he was Bishop of Myra in 343 ad.

At last we see the main work floor. It's hard to believe that all the many toys of the world can be built in this modest room, and yet somehow, magically, the elves manage to accomplish it every year.

To put everyone in a good work mood, the elves enjoy listening to great holiday music. On a little podium you can see the DJ spinning favorite tunes from a collection spanning from classic vinyl LPs to new digital tracks.

A tall brick chimney dominates the end of the workroom. All through the year Santa trains here to improve his speed and dexterity bounding up and down.

Following the delicious smells, we can peek through a doorway to see the elves in the kitchen baking special cookies, chocolates and candies for the holiday. Someone catch that runaway gingerbread man if you can!

After the toys are finished they go to the gift wrap department. Mind the mistletoe as we pass through the doorway! The gift wrappers are origami masters who can package gifts of any size or shape. They always make crisp folds and never forget a perfect bow on top.

The wrapped gifts are sent gently down to the warehouse on an electric slide. This vast warehouse has been steadily filling with all the toys made throughout the year. But by midnight on Christmas Eve the workers will stack every single one of these gifts on Santa's sleigh! How's that for teamwork?

The final stop on our tour is the reindeer stable next door. Far in the back corner in the gloom you may see a few elves sorting lumps of coal for naughty children, but thankfully nowadays there aren't so many of these.

But where are the famous reindeer Dasher and Dancer and all the rest? Why, they are outside already, harnessed up and eagerly pulling at their traces. It's almost midnight and the sleigh is nearly filled with its great sack of toys. And there's jolly old Santa Claus himself at the reins! With a wink in his eye he's ready to wish us all a Happy Christmas and good night!

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