They asked for apples and oranges, puppies and candy, new shoes and dolls with dresses. Some wrote in heartfelt verse; some made heartbreaking appeals on ­behalf of needy loved ones. Some asked for things that just cannot be delivered by sleigh, like joy in a house that has lost a member of the family.

They were children who sent their Christmas wishes to Santa Claus generations ago, in letters ­addressed to the jolly old elf that ended up at the post office. The US Postal Service this year marked the 100th anniversary of the official start of its ­Letters to Santa program, which seeks to match the neediest writers with benefactors. But post office workers were fielding children’s wistful missives years before that.