Fully functional post office at California State Fair teaches kids to write and mail letters
Need to mail off some papers for work, but your kids won’t stop begging you to take them somewhere fun? You may be able to pull off some unexpected multitasking, because this year’s California State Fair features — alongside carnival rides and funnel cake — a fully operational post office.
The miniature shop, taken out of storage and put together each year for the fair, offers all the same products and services as a normal post office. You can buy stamps, mail packages and take home exclusive State Fair postcards with different hand-stamped images themed to each day of the fair: there’s a stamp for the esports competition, the corn dog eating contest, the junior livestock awards, the food festival and more.
“I’m going to get a whole stack,” said Terrence Burns, a volunteer with the fair. “My great-aunt is 98, and she’s sent me a postcard every day for the last 2 ½ years. She can’t hear, she’s stuck at home and there’s no other family, but she was a librarian before she retired so she likes to write to me, and I’ll send a postcard back.”
He’s not the only one who wants a stack of the cards; according to Gina Segura, a customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service, hundreds of people all over the world ask for the full collection of postcards with themed stamps after the fair ends each year.
But the shop isn’t just a quirky commodity for collectors — it also collects up to $50,000 of revenue each year over the two-week fair, acting as the main shipper of fair exhibitors’ goods both for items sold at their fair booths and for their functioning online businesses outside of the event.
This year and in years to come, Segura said they’re hoping to double that amount.
Fair tries to reach younger community with post office
Segura said the Postal Service has been focused on the importance of engaging the next generation in their outreach as “snail mail” becomes less common.
“We’re trying to find a way to reach the younger community, which is why we have toys for sale and Halloween costumes, and we’re introducing the literacy program,” Segura said.
The literacy program, which features a letter-writing station for kids, is taking place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, which are “Kids Days” at the fair. Those days allow free admission for kids 12 and under.
The letter-writing materials include crayons and letter templates with prompts like: “My favorite food at the state fair is….” and “I love the state fair because...” The letters are free for kids to mail to whoever they want.
“We send a lot of things to grandma and grandpa,” Segura said.
The station also offers free Postal Service-themed bracelets, stickers, pencils and coloring books, and is home to the post office’s newly named mascot, Owney the dog.
Owney got his name after a crowd-sourced name competition, according to Segura, when someone suggested naming him after the real dog who was the Railway Mail mascot of the 1800s. For the fair, Owney instead takes the form of a volunteer in a fuzzy dog costume who greets kids and helps them write their letters.
Lucy Vang brought her three kids — Evelyn Moua, 12; Tobi Moua, 10; and Kashi Moua, 8 — to the event, and said that she regularly has them practice writing letters.
“Sometimes we send letters to people when we see those news stories about kids who are wanting birthday cards or sick kids in the hospital,” Vang said. “It’s fun to do that, and it teaches them compassion.”
She also said that Evelyn used to have a pen pal, and that she believes it helped teach Evelyn “to be social” with people she doesn’t know.
“I want them to reach out to people to learn about different experiences,” Vang said. “To understand that we’re from different places, but we still have similar interests and things to talk about.”
The post office is located on the first floor of Building A at Cal Expo, across from the cinnamon roll stand, and is open for business until July 30, when it’ll be packed away into storage until next year.
