Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Is There a Santa Claus? was the title of an editorial

Editorial

An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...

appearing in the September 21, 1897, edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

in the United States and Canada.

History

In 1897, Dr. Philip O'Hanlon, a coroner's assistant on Manhattan's Upper West Side

Upper West Side

The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...

, was asked by his then eight-year-old daughter, Virginia (1889–1971), whether 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...

really existed.

O'Hanlon suggested she write to The Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper at the time, assuring her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." He unwittingly gave one of the paper's editors, Francis Pharcellus Church

Francis Pharcellus Church

Francis Pharcellus Church was an American publisher and editor. He was a member of the Century Association.-Biography:...

, an opportunity to rise above the simple question and address the philosophical

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

issues behind it.

Church was a war correspondent

War correspondent

A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...

during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, a time which saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in much of society. Although the paper ran the editorial in the seventh place on the page, below even one on the newly invented "chainless bicycle

Shaft-driven bicycle

A shaft-driven bicycle is a bicycle that uses a drive shaft instead of a chain to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel. Shaft drives were introduced over a century ago, but were mostly supplanted by chain-driven bicycles due to the gear ranges possible with sprockets and derailleurs...

", its message was very moving to many people who read it. More than a century later it remains the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

.

In 1971, after seeing Virginia's obituary in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, four friends formed a company, called Elizabeth Press, and published a children's book titled Yes, Virginia that illustrated the editorial and included a brief history of the main characters. Its creators took it to Warner Brothers who eventually made the Emmy award

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

-winning television show based on the editorial. The History Channel

The History Channel

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...

, in a special that aired on February 21, 2001, noted that Virginia gave the original letter to a granddaughter, who pasted it in a scrapbook. It was feared that the letter was destroyed in a house fire, but 30 years later, it was discovered intact.

Some people have questioned the veracity of the letter's authorship, expressing doubt that a young girl such as Virginia would refer to children her own age as "my little friends". The original letter, however, appeared and was authenticated in 1998 by Kathleen Guzman, an appraiser on the Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...

, at $20,000–$30,000.

Virginia's identity

Virginia O'Hanlon's full married name was Laura Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas. She was born on July 20, 1889, in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. Her marriage to Edward Douglas in the 1910s was brief, and ended with him deserting her shortly before their daughter, Laura, was born. She was listed as divorced in the 1930 United States Census.

Virginia received her Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College

Hunter College

Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...

in 1910; a Master's degree in education from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

in 1912, and a doctorate from Fordham University

Fordham University

Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

. She was a school teacher in the New York City ISD. She started her career as an educator in 1912, became a junior principal in 1935, and retired in 1959.

Virginia received a steady stream of mail about her letter throughout her life. She would include a copy of the editorial in her replies. In an interview later in life, she credited it with shaping the direction of her life quite positively.

Virginia died on May 13, 1971, in a nursing home in Valatie, New York

Valatie, New York

Valatie is a village in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 1,819 at the 2010 census.The Village of Valatie is in the center of the Town of Kinderhook on US 9.-Geography:Valatie is located at ....

. She is buried at the Chatham Rural Cemetery in Chatham, New York

Chatham (town), New York

Chatham is a town in Columbia County, United States. New York, United States. The population was 4,249 at the 2000 census.The Town of Chatham has a village also called Chatham on its south town line...

Legacy

Every year, Virginia's letter and Church's response are read at the Yule Log

Yule log

A Yule log is a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures...

ceremony at Church's alma mater, Columbia College of Columbia University

Columbia College of Columbia University

Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...

.

The story of Virginia's inquiry and the The Suns response was adapted in 1932 into an NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

produced cantata

Cantata

A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....

(the only known editorial set to classical music) and an Emmy Award

Emmy Award

-winning animated

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

television special

Television special

A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...

in 1974, animated by Bill Meléndez

Bill Melendez

José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Meléndez was a Mexican-American character animator, film director, voice artist and producer, known for his cartoons for Warner Brothers, UPA and the Peanuts series...

(best known for his work on the various Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

specials) and featuring the voices of Jim Backus

Jim Backus

James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...

and Jimmy Osmond

Jimmy Osmond

James Arthur "Jimmy" Osmond is an American singer, actor, and businessman.-Biography:Jimmy Osmond is the youngest of his siblings and an occasional member of their musical group, The Osmonds. He is the ninth and last child of George and Olive Osmond, and his siblings are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne,...

. In 1991 it was adapted into a made-for-TV movie with Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas (actor)

Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor, best known for his role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama The Waltons.- Early life :Thomas was born Richard Earl Thomas in New York,...

and Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...

. In 1996, the story of Virginia's inquiry and the The Suns response was adapted into a holiday musical “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” by David Kirchenbaum (music and lyrics) and Myles McDonnel (book).

In New York City, local television journalist Gabe Pressman

Gabe Pressman

Gabe Pressman is the senior correspondent for WNBC-TV. Pressman has been a journalist in the New York City area for over 60 years. He is considered one of the pioneers of United States television news.-Early years:...

has recounted the story each Christmas for the past thirty years.

The last two paragraphs of Church's editorial are read by actor Sam Elliot in the 1989 film Prancer
Prancer (film)
Prancer is a 1989 family film starring Sam Elliott and Cloris Leachman. It was directed by John D. Hancock. It is set in Three Oaks, Michigan, where town exteriors were filmed...

, about Jessica Riggs, a little girl who believes the wounded reindeer

Reindeer

The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

she is nursing back to health belongs to Santa. Jessica's story inspires the local newspaper editor, as Virginia's letter did to Church, to write an editorial which he titles Yes, Santa, there are still Virginias.

On the exact 100th anniversary of the original publication of the editorial, The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

published an analysis of its enduring appeal.

In 2003 "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" was depicted in a mechanical holiday window display at the Lord & Taylor

Lord & Taylor

Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...

department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

In 2009, The Studio School in New York City, honored Virginia's life and legacy. Janet C. Rotter, Head of School, announced the establishment of the Virginia O'Hanlon Scholarship, speaking passionately about their commitment to offering need-based scholarships for students of merit.

Virginia's descendants continue her legacy.

Another indication of the popularity of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" is the use of “Yes, Virginia, there is (a) (subject – person, object, activity, and/or concept)” (or similar phrase) in satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

, parody

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

, and as an idiomatic expression

Idiom

Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...

to insist that something is true, without the expression becoming a cliché

Cliché

A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

Macy's - Make-A-Wish Foundation - Yes, Virginia - CBS

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

, in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation

Make-A-Wish Foundation

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...

, launched its first Believe campaign in 2008, based on "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". The 2008 Believe campaign results included Macy's collecting 1.1 million letters from Santa Mail Red Letter boxes located in Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

stores, that were then mailed to him through the United States Post Office "Operation Santa", and Macy's making a matching $ 1 million US contribution to the Make-A-Wish Foundation

Make-A-Wish Foundation

for the letters collected by Macy's.

The 2008 Macy's Believe holiday commercial featured Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...

, Donald Trump

Donald Trump

Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...

, Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...

and others quoting various popular lines from "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." The opening lines appeared again in the 2009 Believe holiday commercial featuring Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...

.

In 2009, Macy's and Macy's ad agency JWT

JWT

JWT is one of the largest advertising agencies in the United States and the fourth-largest in the world. It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group and is headquartered in New York. The global agency is led by Worldwide Chairman and Global CEO Bob Jeffrey who took over the...

produced Yes, Virginia, a CGI

Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

animated Christmas special, after pitching and selling the idea to CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. Yes, Virginia is a fictionalized version of her story. The film was directed by Pete Circuitt and animated by Starz Animation

Starz Animation

Arc Productions, formerly known as Starz Animation Toronto, is a Canadian animation and visual effects studio based in Toronto, Ontario. It is majority owned by a Canadian investor group, with former owner Starz Media as a minority stakeholder...

, makers of Shane Acker

Shane Acker

Shane Acker is an American film-maker known for directing 9, which is based on his 2005 Academy Award-nominated film, 9. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.- Background :...

's 9. It features the voice talents of Beatrice Miller as Virginia, Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...

, Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...

and Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina

Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

.

The 2009 holiday season impacts from the “Yes, Virginia” special broadcast on the CBS

CBS

television network on December 11, 2009, were: 1) ”Yes, Virginia” reached more than 3.7 million television viewers, 2) the associated public relations effort resulted in a substantial lift in overall exposure during Macy's most critical season with 1.84 billion impressions generated, 3) On the night of the show on December 11, 2009, “Yes, Virginia” was Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

's No. 1 and No.4 hottest search terms, 4) “Yes, Virginia” made TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

's coveted Hot List. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

said, "Like Santa himself, Virginia should be a welcome Christmas visitor for years to come." Parents Television Council

Parents Television Council

The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...

named it the Best TV Show of the Week, and 5) Holiday sales for the five-week period ending January 2, 2010, achieved Macy's sales goals: $4.4 billion US in sales, 1% growth in same-store sales, and 29% growth of Macys.com.

Since 2009, CBS

CBS

has been the U.S. TV network broadcaster of Yes, Virginia.

For the Macy's 2010 Believe campaign, an animated character based on Virginia was part of and appeared in their 2010 holiday commercials, inviting children to stores to write "Yes Virginia Santa Letters," and at the Macy's department store on 34th and Broadway in Manhattan as the theme for its 2010 holiday windows. She was also represented as a float in the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...

External links

Full text of the editorial with digital image from the original newspaper. From the Newseum, Washington, DC
The Myths of 'Yes, Virginia.' From the Newseum, Washington, DC
November 23, 2010 'Yes, Virginia' Family Day at the Newseum From the Newseum, Washington, DC
Yes Virginia (2009) Animated Holiday Special on CBS. Official site.
Holiday Central CBS.com
CBC radio interview of Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas in 1963 (Audio files of the text by eight different readers)
WTEN – Albany PBS – video of Virginia O'Hanlon reading the editorial to children in the 1960's.

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