Every December from 1920-1943, J.R Tolkien’s children would receive one letter in the fire place from Father Christmas. The letters themselves were illustrated and written by Tolkien with beautiful detail. He hand lettered the envelopes and created lovely postal stamps from the North Pole.

Like every character Tolkien has ever created, Father Christmas was complex. His letters didn’t shy away from mentioning the war or England’s political turmoil.

In 1939, he wrote to Priscilla Tolkien “I am very busy and things are very difficult this year owing to this horrible war. Many of my messengers have never come back. I haven’t been able to do you a very nice picture this year.” 

Houghton Mifflin has made Tolkien’s letters into a beautiful book. Buy it, and check out the article from the New York Times. It’s been a while since I’ve seen something so sincere, charming, and beautiful—-this is the sugar of life.