He is a figure known the globe over, an endorsement for gift giving, the winter holiday season and cookie consuming. At instances he is referred to as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle and is arguably the most famous heavyset celebrity – nicely at least to precede Elvis Presley. Yes, he is the loveable, enduring and jolly old chap we get in touch with Santa Claus. In 1897 1 small girl from Manhattan, at the urging of her father, took it upon herself to ask the New York Sun Newspaper when and for all if the man in the red suit was the true deal.
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Many numbers of letters are written to newspapers all around the planet each year, and handful of if any, will ever see a moment of fame beyond the readership of their respective dailies. Even so, more than a hundred years ago a easy letter comprised of only the words, I am eight years old. Some of my small buddies say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, If you see it in The Sun, it’s so. Please inform me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? would go on to become 1 of the most enduring symbols of North Americas take on Christmas.
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One particular day in September 1897 (historians speculate that the question arose not in December as a single may anticipate, but in September, because this would have been shortly right after the new school year had commenced and youngsters would have already been turning their consideration to Christmas) young Virginia O’Hanlon approached her father, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon (who worked for a coroners office), with the sort of innocence only the really young are capable to possess. She probably asked in a modest but inquisitive voice if the rumours of her school chums were appropriate, was Santa Claus fake? Now not being aware of for positive how tense the air got in the room at that moment when Mr OHanlons only youngster asked him to debunk or concur with the tale of St. Nick, we can only assume that he did not have the heart to break the truth to her himself. And so the letter (and its reply) that would go to turn out to be nearly as considerably a symbol of the Christmas season as Santa himself was born.
Off Virginia went to write a letter at her fathers suggestion, which she mailed herself, to the New York Sun newspaper exactly where its answer was assigned to an ex-civil war correspondent turned newspaper editorial writer by the name of Francis Pharcellus Church. Story has it that Mr Church was not specifically jumping for joy at the assignment, but he took the childs letter back to his desk and proceeded to create 1 of the most stirring tributes to Christmas that has ever graced the pages of any newspaper.
Possibly it was the atrocities of war he had witnessed firsthand, perhaps it was his own desire to believe in Father Christmas, or maybe it was exactly what he would have mentioned had any person asked him if Santa was genuine, but that day Francis Church wrote an earnest, dramatic and almost poetic response to Miss OHanlons query. In no brief terms he assured her that indeed Santa Claus, or at the very least the unshakable spirit and message of Saint Nicholass image were as true as anything else on earth.
Though at the time it ran in the New York Sun it was but the seventh editorial on its web page, this candid, lively and touching response would go on to uncover its way into the hearts and Christmases of millions of individuals, spanning numerous generations because the 1890s.
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In reality both the letter and its answer are reprinted in oodles of newspapers about the globe each and every year, a modern day tribute and testimony to Virginias, Francis Churchs and Santa Clauss contribution to the timeless beauty, wonder and magic of Christmas.
Source:
http://www.ilovegingers.com/2012/10/05/yes-virginia-even-in-the-21st-century-there-is-still-a-santa-clauswith-me/