Virginia O'Hanlon
This time of year, it seems everyone is in search of the “Christmas Spirit”. The topic brings to mind the true story of Virginia O’Hanlon, an 8-year-old girl who wrote a letter to The New York Sun in 1897 asking whether or not Santa Claus was real.
While the child’s inquiry itself may not be remarkable, the response from the newspaper certainly was. It seemed to capture the “essence” of the Christmas Spirit and created an immediate sensation among its readers. It was so extraordinary that it was reprinted every Christmas for the next 50 years until the newspaper went out of business.
Translated into over 20 languages, the editor’s response has appeared in books, movies, plays, and a variety of other media outlets. Over a century later, it remains the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper.
Francis Church
The author of the famous response was Francis P. Church, a veteran reporter who had covered the Civil War for The New York Times. Having witnessed great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in many people, Church was inspired to write something that would be truthful, yet that would not dash the dreams of a young girl who still felt the magic of Christmas.
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