We take pleasure in answering thus
prominently the communication below,
expressing at the same time our great
gratification that its faithful author is
numbered among the friends of The Sun:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends
say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says,
"If you see it in The Sun, it's so."
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have
been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical
age. They do not believe except what they see. They think
that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by
their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether
they be men's or children's, are little. In this
great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an
ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless
world about him, as measured by the intelligence
capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
He exists as certainly as love and generosity and
devotion exist, and you know that they abound and
give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas!
how dreary would be the world if there were no
Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there
were no Virginias. There would be no childlike
faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable
this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except
in sense and sight. The external light with which
childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not
believe in fairies. You might get your papa to
hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas
eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not
see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?
Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that
there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in
the world are those that neither children nor men
can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the
lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they
are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all
the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes
the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the
unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even
the united strength of all the strongest men that
ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love,
romance, can push aside that curtain and view and
picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is
it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is
nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus?Thank God he lives and lives forever.
A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times
10,000 years from now, he will continue to make
glad the heart of childhood.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!! From The People's Almanac, pp. 1358-9. Francis P. Church's editorial, "Yes
Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" was an immediate sensation, and
became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first
appeared in the The New York Sun in 1897, almost a
hundred years ago, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the
paper went out of business. Thirty-six years after her letter was printed, Virginia O'Hanlon
recalled the events that prompted her letter: "Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never
disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said
there wasn't any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my
father, and he was a little evasive on the subject. "It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to
how to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in
doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The
Sun. Father would always say, 'If you see it in the The
Sun, it's so,' and that settled the matter. " 'Well, I'm just going to write The Sun and find out
the real truth,' I said to father. "He said, 'Go ahead, Virginia. I'm sure The Sun will
give you the right answer, as it always does.' " And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents' favorite
newspaper. Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor,
Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the
Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on the
The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an
anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his
personal motto, "Endeavour to clear your mind of cant." When
controversial subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page,
especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually
given to Church. Now, he had in his hands a little girl's letter on a most
controversial matter, and he was burdened with the responsibility of
answering it. "Is there a Santa Claus?" the childish scrawl in the letter asked.
At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must
answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk,
and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable
editorials in newspaper history. Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in
April, 1906, leaving no children. Virginia O'Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a
Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received
her Master's from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New
York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years,
she retired as an educator. Throughout her life she received a steady
stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply she
attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial. Virginia
O'Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing
home in Valatie, N.Y.
Virginia O'Hanlon