Is there a Santa Claus? An unlikely exchange gave us the answer.

In September of 1897, a letter arrived at the editor’s desk of the New York Sun. The response to that letter was published in the opinion pages of the paper on Sept. 21 of that year, and has been a holiday fixture ever since.

Dave Faries here, noting that little Virginia O’Hanlon trusted the coming response. “Papa says ‘If you see it in the Sun, it is so,’” she wrote. According to records collected by the Library of Congress, the journalist tasked with dealing with the matter—“is there a Santa Claus?”—was a hardcore news editor who “bristled” at the assignment. His response, however, was an instant classic, reprinted every year, translated into at least 20 languages.

Given the importance of the exchange now, it is surprising to see the words wedged on page 6 of that issue. Above it is a bit of speculation on the chainless bicycle, expected to be the mode of transportation in 1898. Below, a brief snide commentary on the Tammany Hall political machine. 

Of course, there was no name attached to his answer. Only after Francis P. Church died in 1906 did the world learn the stern son of a Baptist minister, educated in mathematics, had confirmed that, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”

Here are a few highlights from what the Library of Congress tabbed an editorial of greater fame than perhaps any other (no challengers come to mind):

“He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy.”

“The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.”

“Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding.”

Earlier this month, I sat down with Santa Claus—yes, the real one—to reflect on the magic of Christmas, as well as his image in popular culture and other aspects of his existence as the jolly old elf. You can read that discussion here. It was a bit of fun, so much so that Santa invited me to join him for lunch at Peter B’s in Monterey. Note: Santa ordered an Arnold Palmer, not milk as expected.

As for Virginia O’Hanlon, she went on to earn degrees in education, including a master’s from Columbia University and PhD from Fordham University. She spent her life in education and died in 1971 on the same day that Mick Jagger married Bianca Perez Morena de Macias in Saint-Tropez. Jagger was (and remains) famous, of course. O’Hanlon was quoted in her Time magazine obituary as saying, “I am anonymous from January to November.”

So we have three people to thank—at least in part—for the spirit of the holiday. St. Nick, of course, a crusty journalist and a little girl wanting to believe.

Happy holidays to all.