"Ho ho ho" is a rendition of a particular type of deep-throated laugh

Laughter

Laughing is a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as an emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from hearing a joke, being tickled, or other stimuli...

 or chuckle which is of Gaelic (Irish language) derivation. It is also used as the laugh of Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 and the Jolly Green Giant.

Also as "expressing laughter" is recorded from c.

Circa

Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

 1150.

As a Canadian Postal Code

Canada Post

Canada Post

Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...

 uses the characters H0H 0H0 as the postal code

Canadian postal code

A Canadian postal code is a six-character string that forms part of a postal address in Canada. Like British and Dutch postcodes, Canada's postal codes are alphanumeric. They are in the format A0A 0A0, where A is a letter and 0 is a digit, with a space separating the third and fourth characters...

 for letters to be sent to Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

.

The full address is:

SANTA CLAUS

NORTH POLE  H0H 0H0

CANADA

In French, Santa's name translates as "Father Christmas", addressed as:

PÈRE NOËL

PÔLE NORD  H0H 0H0

CANADA

Since the postal code system has 'H0':P set up to represent a tiny or rural village ('0') inside of the city of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 or Laval

Laval, Quebec

Laval is a Canadian city and a region in southwestern Quebec. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 14th largest city in Canada with a population of 368,709 in 2006...

 ('H'), H0 codes are quite rare and a seasonal allocation of H0H does not conflict with any other normal postal codes.

Urban legends

There have been false urban legend

Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

s claiming that use of this laugh is being discouraged in Australian malls by Westaff

Westaff

Westaff is a staffing company based primarily out of Santa Barbara, California, United States. Westaff has more than 75 franchises located throughout the United States. Westaff is a wholly owned division of The Select Family of Staffing Companies....

, a recruitment firm supplying many of the mall Santas. Supposedly, the firm claimed that the laugh, when used loudly, could be frightening to children and could even be considered derogatory to women, and recommended that a Santa lowering his voice and saying "ha ha ha" might be more welcoming. However, these legends have been proven false.

Characters associated with this laugh

• Santa Claus
  Santa Claus
  Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
  
  
• Jolly Green Giant
• The Happy Mask Salesman
• Barry Soper
  Barry Soper
  Barry Soper is a conservative New Zealand political journalist, and has been featured regularly on radio and television since the 1970s....
  
  
• Doctor Ivo Robotnik
• St. Nick