For many, the New Year is a time of renewal and fresh starts, allowing us to turn the page and begin our next lap around the sun on the right foot. That said, the holiday is also steeped in traditions—for instance, the Times Square celebration, where a massive ball is slowly dropped to signify the countdown until the calendar officially shifts from one year to the next.

This tradition has a fascinating history, based mainly on the technology of the times.

While we all know how much magic the workshops up at the North Pole rely on to produce presents for the good children of the world, we have it on good authority that they also rely on quite a bit of technology. For instance, there are a lot of letters that need to be sorted and read before Santa’s big ride. Let’s read up on what our partners up north frequently deal with in their critical operations.