He is a figure recognized the planet more than, an endorsement for gift giving, the winter holiday season and cookie eating. At occasions he is named Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas or Kris Kringle and is arguably the most well-known heavyset celebrity – effectively at least to precede Elvis Presley. Yes, he is the loveable, enduring and jolly old chap we call Santa Claus. In 1897 1 tiny 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 real deal.
A great number of numbers of letters are written to newspapers all about the world each year, and couple of if any, will ever see a moment of fame beyond the readership of their respective dailies. Nevertheless, more than a hundred years ago a simple letter comprised of only the words, I am eight years old. Some of my small close 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? would go on to turn out to be 1 of the most enduring symbols of North Americas take on Christmas.
A single day in September 1897 (historians speculate that the query arose not in December as one particular may possibly expect, but in September, because this would have been shortly after the new school year had commenced and kids 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 quite young are in a position to possess. She probably asked in a tiny but inquisitive voice if the rumours of her school chums were correct, was Santa Claus fake? Now not understanding for certain how tense the air got in the space 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 into practically as much a symbol of the Christmas season as Santa himself was born.
Off Virginia went to create a letter at her fathers suggestion, which she mailed herself, to the New York Sun newspaper 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 exactly jumping for joy at the assignment, but he took the childs letter back to his desk and proceeded to create one of the most stirring tributes to Christmas that has ever graced the pages of any newspaper.
success
Perhaps it was the atrocities of war he had witnessed firsthand, probably it was his personal desire to think in Father Christmas, or possibly it was precisely what he would have mentioned had anybody asked him if Santa was real, but that day Francis Church wrote an earnest, dramatic and practically poetic response to Miss OHanlons query. In no brief terms he assured her that indeed Santa Claus, or at the really least the unshakable spirit and message of Saint Nicholass image were as actual as anything else on earth.
Though at the time it ran in the New York Sun it was but the seventh editorial on its page, this candid, lively and touching response would go on to uncover its way into the hearts and Christmases of millions of people, spanning a lot of generations given that the 1890s.
In truth each the letter and its answer are reprinted in oodles of newspapers around the globe every single 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-nonetheless-a-santa-clauswith-me-2/