| To Make Glad the Heart of Childhood |
September, 1897
Dear Editor:
I am eight 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 Ninety-Fifth Street
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a
skeptical 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.
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 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 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, fancy, poetry, love, romance
can push aside that curtain and view 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 he lives forever. A thousand years from now, nay, ten
times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
Dear Editor:
I am eight 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 Ninety-Fifth Street
Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a
skeptical 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.
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 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 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, fancy, poetry, love, romance
can push aside that curtain and view 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 he lives forever. A thousand years from now, nay, ten
times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
The response to Virginia O'Hanlon's letter was printed as an unsigned editorial in the New
York Sun on September 21, 1897. Since that time, Francis Pharcellus Church's work has
become the world's most reprinted newspaper editorial.
Mr. Church had covered the Civil War for the New York Times and had worked at the New York
Sun for twenty years. A sardonic man, known for his wit and unflinching perseverance,
Church was usually the person presented with the task of dealing with controversial subjects.
When he read Virginia's letter, he knew at once that he must not avoid the task of answering
it, and answering truthfully. He sat down at his desk and wrote one of the most famous
editorials ever printed.
Mr. Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in 1906, leaving no children.
Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas graduated from Hunter College in 1910 and received a
Master's Degree from Columbia University the next year. She worked in the New York school
system for forty-seven years, first as a teacher, later as a principal. She died in 1971 at the
age of eighty-one.
She continued to receive mail about her Santa Claus letter throughout her life. She answered
every inquiry and, with her reply, enclosed a copy of Mr. Church's editorial.
York Sun on September 21, 1897. Since that time, Francis Pharcellus Church's work has
become the world's most reprinted newspaper editorial.
Mr. Church had covered the Civil War for the New York Times and had worked at the New York
Sun for twenty years. A sardonic man, known for his wit and unflinching perseverance,
Church was usually the person presented with the task of dealing with controversial subjects.
When he read Virginia's letter, he knew at once that he must not avoid the task of answering
it, and answering truthfully. He sat down at his desk and wrote one of the most famous
editorials ever printed.
Mr. Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in 1906, leaving no children.
Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas graduated from Hunter College in 1910 and received a
Master's Degree from Columbia University the next year. She worked in the New York school
system for forty-seven years, first as a teacher, later as a principal. She died in 1971 at the
age of eighty-one.
She continued to receive mail about her Santa Claus letter throughout her life. She answered
every inquiry and, with her reply, enclosed a copy of Mr. Church's editorial.
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