Análisis de Cartas a los Tres Reyes Magos: Mito y Rito Trasladado a las Marcas

Abstract

In Spain, approximately 75% of toy sales are concentrated at Christmas (Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Juguetes, 2022). Taking into account this data, it is inevitable to talk about the importance of the Three Wise Men. Every year, boys and girls write their letters with the illusion of waking up on January 6 with gifts in their living rooms. In this context, it is opportune to analyze these letters in order to know the nature of the children's requests in their letters to the Three Wise Men. For this reason, the present work offers a content analysis of 417 letters, both at the formal level and an analysis of the gifts requested. The main results of this research reveal that children include the brand of their favorite toys in almost 75% of the cases and their inclusion increases with the age of the children. Likewise, it is determined that not all requests are toys and it is analyzed how the weight of toys and non-toys varies according to the age and gender of the child in their letters. In addition, it is found that children do not only ask for gifts for themselves.