Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
By Francis P. Church
(Summary: In the 1897 editorial response from
the “New York Sun,” a young girl named Virginia O’Hanlon questions the
existence of Santa Claus. The editor reassures her, affirming that Santa
Claus exists just as love and generosity do, enriching lives with
faith, joy, and wonder. The editor emphasizes the importance of
believing in things unseen, ensuring that Santa Claus will bring
happiness to children’s hearts for generations to come.)
editorial from the “New York Sun”, Sept. 21, 1897
Dear Editor:
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 O’Hanlon
115 West 95th Street
New York City
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. 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 eternal 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
they 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 no children or 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 or unseeable in the world……
No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A
thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years
from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.