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{{Short description|Phrase from 1897 editorial about Santa Claus}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Yes,Virginia,ThereIsASantaClausClipping.jpg|thumb|Original editorial in ''The Sun'' of September 21, 1897|alt=See caption]]
"'''Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus'''" is a line from an [[editorial]] by [[Francis Pharcellus Church]]. Written in response to a letter by eight-year-old [[Virginia O'Hanlon]] asking whether [[Santa Claus]] was real, the editorial was first published in the New York newspaper ''[[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]]'' on September 21, 1897.
"'''Is There a Santa Claus?'''" was initially published uncredited and Church's authorship was not disclosed until after his death in 1906. The editorial was quickly republished by other New York newspapers. Though initially reluctant to do the same, ''The Sun'' soon began regularly republishing the editorial during the [[Christmas and holiday season]], including every year from 1924 to 1950, when the paper ceased publication.
The editorial is widely reprinted in the United States during the holiday season, and is the most reprinted newspaper editorial in the English language. It has been translated into around 20 languages and adapted as television specials, a film, a musical, and a [[cantata]].
== Background ==
=== Francis Pharcellus Church ===
[[Francis Pharcellus Church]] (February 22, 1839{{Spaced en dash}}April 11, 1906) was an American publisher and editor. He and his brother [[William Conant Church]] founded and edited several publications: ''[[The Army and Navy Journal]]'' (1863), [[The Galaxy (magazine)|''The Galaxy'']] (1866), and the ''Internal Revenue Record and Customs Journal'' (1870). Before the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] he had worked in journalism, first at his father's ''[[New-York Chronicle]]'' and later at the New York newspaper ''[[The Sun (New York City)|The Sun]]''. Church left ''The Sun'' in the early 1860s but returned to work there part-time in 1874. After ''The Galaxy'' merged with ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'' in 1878 he joined ''The Sun'' full-time as an editor and writer. Church wrote thousands of editorials at the paper,''<ref name=":32">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1989 |title=William Conant Church (11 August 1836–23 May 1917) and Francis Pharcellus Church (22 February 1839–11 April 1906) |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Literary Biography]] |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] |location=Farmington Hills, Michigan |last=Frasca |first=Ralph}}</ref>'' and became known for writing on religious topics from a secular point of view.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Kevin |date=2015 |title=Famous New Yorker: Francis Pharcellus Church |url=https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nny360.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/59/d59c764a-b2fb-11ea-a283-770c7c3b5ab4/5eee122fd14fd.pdf.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2021-01-01 |publisher=New York News Publisher's Association |archive-date=January 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112101457/https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nny360.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/59/d59c764a-b2fb-11ea-a283-770c7c3b5ab4/5eee122fd14fd.pdf.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1906-04-13|title=Francis P. Church|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/04/13/archives/francis-p-church.html|access-date=2021-12-20|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105135429/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/04/13/archives/francis-p-church.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After Church's death, his friend J. R. Duryee wrote that "by nature and training [he] was reticent about himself, highly sensitive and retiring".{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=|pp=129&ndash;130}}
=== ''The Sun'' ===
In 1897, ''The Sun'' was one of the most prominent newspapers in New York City, having been developed by its long-time editor, [[Charles Anderson Dana]], over the previous thirty years.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=23}} Their editorials that year were described by the scholar W. Joseph Campbell as favoring "[[wikt:vituperation|vituperation]] and personal attack".{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=132}} Campbell also wrote that the management of the paper was reluctant to republish content.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=132}}
== Writing and publication ==
[[file:Virginia O'Hanlon (ca. 1895).jpg|thumb|[[Virginia O'Hanlon]] ({{Circa|1895}})|upright=.75|alt=A girl wearing a dress and standing on a bicycle]]
[[File:Virginia Santa Claus.png|thumb|Virginia O'Hanlon's original letter|right|alt=A letter reading "Dear Editor: I am 8 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?"]]
In 1897, Philip O'Hanlon, a surgeon, was asked by his eight-year-old daughter, [[Virginia O'Hanlon]], whether [[Santa Claus]] existed. His answer did not convince her, and Virginia decided to pose the question to ''The Sun''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Quigg |first=H. D. |date=1958-12-22 |title=Virginia Tells of Santa Query 61 Years Past |pages=12 |work=[[Deseret News]] |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113983671/virginia-tells-of-santa-query-61-years/ |access-date=2022-12-02 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202153054/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113983671/virginia-tells-of-santa-query-61-years/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sources conflict over whether her father suggested writing the letter,''<ref name=":4" />'' or she elected to on her own.<ref name=":3" /> In her letter Virginia wrote that her father had told her "If you see it in ''The Sun'' it's so."''<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last=Strauss|first=Valerie|date=December 25, 2014|title=Virginia of 'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus' grew up to be a teacher|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/25/virginia-of-yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-grew-up-to-be-a-teacher/|access-date=2021-01-01|archive-date=January 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103015859/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/25/virginia-of-yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-grew-up-to-be-a-teacher/|url-status=live}}</ref>'' O'Hanlon later told ''The Sun'' that her father thought the newspaper would be "too busy" to respond to her question and had said to "[w]rite if you want to," but to not be disappointed if she got no response.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=December 25, 1914 |title='Is There a Santa Claus?' The Sun's Virginia of 1897 Tells her Own Virginia That There Is, and Proves It |pages=5 |work=The Sun |location=New York City |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1914-12-25/ed-1/seq-5/#words=CLAUS+Claus+Hanlon+O+O%27Hanlon+Santa+SANTA+Virginia+VIRGINIA+Virginias |access-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202154331/https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1914-12-25/ed-1/seq-5/#words=CLAUS+Claus+Hanlon+O+O%27Hanlon+Santa+SANTA+Virginia+VIRGINIA+Virginias |url-status=live }}</ref> After sending the letter she looked for a response "day after day".<ref name=":2" /> O'Hanlon later said that she had waited for an answer to her letter for long enough that she forgot about it. Campbell theorizes the letter was sent shortly after O'Hanlon's birthday in July and was "overlooked or misplaced" for a time.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=|pp=134&ndash;135}}{{efn|A copy of the letter, hand-written by Virginia and believed by her family to be the original and returned to them by the newspaper<ref name="cbc2019"/> was authenticated in 1998 by Kathleen Guzman, an appraiser on the television program ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]''.<ref name="Roadshow">{{cite web |date=July 19, 1997 |title=1897 'Yes, Virginia' Santa Claus Letter |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/2/phoenix-az/appraisals/1897-yes-virginia-santa-letter--199704A43/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922130314/http://player.pbs.org/widget/partnerplayer/2245695365/?w=753&h=432.97499999999997&chapterbar=true&autoplay=true |archive-date=September 22, 2017 |access-date=2021-01-01 |work=[[Antiques Roadshow]] |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]]}}</ref> In 2007, the show appraised its value at around $50,000.<ref name="cbc2019" /> {{Asof|2015|post=,}} the letter was held by Virginia's great-granddaughter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yes, there is a Santa Claus |url=https://tucson.com/news/opinion/editorial/yes-there-is-a-santa-claus/article_3ace19eb-a5a7-5684-82b8-4fad936b425e.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224155224/https://tucson.com/news/opinion/editorial/yes-there-is-a-santa-claus/article_3ace19eb-a5a7-5684-82b8-4fad936b425e.html |archive-date=December 24, 2021 |access-date=2021-12-24 |website=[[Arizona Daily Star]] |language=en}}</ref>}}
''The Sun''{{'s}} editor-in-chief, [[Edward Page Mitchell]], eventually gave the letter to Francis Church.{{Sfn|Turner|1999|pp=129–130}} Mitchell reported that Church, who was initially reluctant to write a response, produced it "in a short time"''<ref name=":32" />'' during a single afternoon.{{Sfn|Forbes|2007|p=90}} Church's response was 416 words long<ref name=":62">{{Cite news|last=Ranniello|first=Bruno|date=1969-12-25|title='Yes, Virginia' Editorialist: Francis Pharcellus Church|pages=22|work=[[The Bangor Daily News]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90871391/yes-virginia-editorialist-francis/|access-date=2021-12-20|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|archive-date=January 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105135426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90871391/yes-virginia-editorialist-francis/|url-status=live}}</ref> and was anonymously<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Sebakijje |first=Lena |title=Research Guides: Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus: Topics in Chronicling America: Introduction |url=https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-yes-virginia/introduction |access-date=2021-12-20 |website= |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |language=en |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105135437/https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-yes-virginia/introduction |url-status=live }}</ref> published in ''The Sun'' on September 21, 1897,{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=127}} shortly after the beginning of the school year in New York City.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=134|pp=}} The editorial appeared in the paper's third and last column of editorials that day, positioned below discussions of an election law in Connecticut, a newly invented [[chainless bicycle]], and "British Ships in American Waters".{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=127}}
Church was not disclosed as the editorial's author until after his 1906 death.<ref name=":0" /> This sometimes led to inaccuracies: a republication in December 1897 by ''The Meriden Weekly Republican'' had attributed authorship to Dana, saying that the editorial could "hardly have been written" by any other employee of the paper.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1897-12-16 |title=Is There a Santa Claus? |pages=9 |work=The Meriden Weekly Republican |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114215400/the-meriden-weekly-republican/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206221757/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114215400/the-meriden-weekly-republican/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The editorial is one of two whose authorship ''The Sun'' disclosed,<ref name=":62" /> the other being Harold M. Anderson's "[[Charles Lindbergh|[Charles] Lindbergh]] Flies Alone". Campbell argued in 2006 that Church might not have welcomed ''The Sun''{{'s}} disclosure, noting that he was generally unwilling to disclose the authorship of other editorials.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=129}}
=== Summary ===
The editorial, as it first appeared in ''The Sun'', was titled "Is There a [[Santa Claus]]?" and prefaced with the text of O'Hanlon's letter asking the paper to tell her the truth about the existence of Santa Claus. O'Hanlon wrote that some of her "little friends" had told her that he was not real.{{efn|[[Andy Rooney]] doubted that a young girl would refer to children her own age as "my little friends" and theorized that Virginia's father assisted her in composing the letter or even wrote it himself.{{Sfn|Rooney|2007}}}} Church's response began: "Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age." He continued to write that Santa Claus existed "as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist" and that the world would be "dreary" if he did not. Church argued that just because something could not be seen did not mean it was not real: "Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world." He concluded that:<ref>{{Cite web |title="Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" |url=https://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus/ |access-date=2022-01-02 |website= |publisher=[[Newseum]] |language=en-US |archive-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219113623/https://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=You may 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 and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
<br/>No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.}}
=== Initial reception ===
Virginia O'Hanlon was informed of the editorial from a friend who called her father, describing the editorial as "the most wonderful piece of writing I ever saw." She later told ''The Sun'' "I think that I have never been so happy in my life" as when she read Church's response. O'Hanlon continued to say that while she was initially very proud of her role in the editorial's publication, she eventually came to understand that "the important thing was" Church's writing.<ref name=":2" /> In an interview later in life she credited it with shaping the direction of her life positively.<ref name="cbc2019">{{cite news |last1=Gollom |first1=Mark |date=December 22, 2019 |title=Yes, Virginia, your Christmas legacy lives on |publisher=[[CBC News]] |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/virginia-santa-claus-editorial-christmas-1.5399189 |access-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200208050736/https://www.cbc.ca/news/virginia-santa-claus-editorial-christmas-1.5399189 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cbc">{{cite news |date=December 24, 1963 |title=Yes Virginia – 66 years later |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.3333897 |access-date=December 1, 2024}}</ref>
''The Sun''{{'s}} editor, Charles Anderson Dana, favorably received Church's editorial, deeming it "real literature". He also said that it "might be a good idea to reprint [the editorial] every Christmas{{Em dash}}yes, and even tell who wrote it!"{{Sfn|Turner|1999|pp=129–130}} The editorial's publication drew no commentary from contemporary New York newspapers.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=128}}
== Later republication ==
While ''The Sun'' did not republish the editorial for five years, it soon appeared in other papers.<ref name="new details" /> ''The Sun'' only republished the editorial after a number of reader requests.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=2006-12-13 |title=Tell Virginia the Skeptics Are Still Wrong |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/nyregion/13towns.html |access-date=2021-12-20 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106085000/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/nyregion/13towns.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Efn|While some sources state that the editorial was republished every year after 1897, it did not appear until December 1902, with the comment that "[S]ince its original publication, the ''Sun'' has refrained from reprinting the article on Santa Claus which appeared several years ago, but this year requests for its reproduction have been so numerous that we yield."{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=130}}}} After 1902, it did not appear in the paper again until 1906, shortly after Church's death. The paper began to re-publish the editorial more regularly after this, including six times in the ensuing ten years and, according to Campbell, gradually began to "warm to" the editorial.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=|pp=130&ndash;131}} During this period other newspapers began to republish the editorial.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=|pp=130&ndash;131}}
In 1918, ''The Sun'' wrote that they got many requests to "reprint again the Santa Claus editorial article" every Christmas season.{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=128}} The paper would also mail readers copies of the editorial upon request; it received 163,840 requests in 1930 alone and had sent 200,000 copies out by 1936.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Manley |first=Jared L. |date=1936-12-24 |title=Santa Claus Is Real in Famous Editorial |pages=12 |work=The Windsor Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115575643/santa-claus-is-real-in-famous-editorial/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101171631/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115575643/santa-claus-is-real-in-famous-editorial/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Virginia O'Hanlon also received mail about her letter until her 1971 death and would include a copy of the editorial in her replies.<ref>{{cite web |last=Morrison |first=Jim "Santa Junior" |author2=McElhany, Jennifer |title=Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus |url=http://www.nationalchristmascenter.com/exhibits/htm/yesvirginia.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227041139/http://www.nationalchristmascenter.com/exhibits/htm/yesvirginia.htm |archive-date=December 27, 2011 |access-date=November 13, 2007 |publisher=National Christmas Centre}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 14, 1971 |title=Virginia O'Hanlon, Santa's Friend, Dies; Virginia O'Hanlon Dead at 81 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/14/archives/virginia-ohanlon-santas-friend-dies-virginia-ohanlon-dead-at-81.html |url-access=limited |access-date=October 29, 2007 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525122819/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D17FD355F127A93C6A8178ED85F458785F9 |url-status=live }}</ref>''The Sun'' started reprinting the editorial annually at Christmas after 1924, when the paper's editor-in-chief, [[Frank Munsey]], placed it as the first editorial on December 23. This practice continued on the 23rd or 24th of the month until the paper's bankruptcy in 1950.<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=|pp=130&ndash;131}}
"Is There a Santa Claus?" often appears in newspaper editorial sections during the [[Christmas and holiday season]].{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=196}} It has become the most reprinted editorial in any newspaper in the English language,<ref name="new details">{{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=W. Joseph |date=Spring 2005 |title=The grudging emergence of American journalism's classic editorial: New details about 'Is There A Santa Claus?' |url=http://academic2.american.edu/~wjc/santa.htm |journal=[[American Journalism Review]] |location=[[University of Maryland, College Park]] |publisher=[[Philip Merrill College of Journalism]] |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=41–61 |doi=10.1080/08821127.2005.10677639 |issn=1067-8654 |access-date=October 29, 2007 |s2cid=146945285 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606095530/http://academic2.american.edu/~wjc/santa.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Garza |first1=Melita M. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003245131 |title=The Routledge Companion to American Journalism History |last2=Fuhlhage |first2=Michael |last3=Lucht |first3=Tracy |date=2023-07-27 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-003-24513-1 |edition=1 |location=London |pages=393 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003245131|s2cid=260256757 }}</ref> and has been translated into around 20 languages.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Vinciguerra|first=Thomas|date=1997-09-21|title=Yes, Virginia, a Thousand Times Yes|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/weekinreview/yes-virginia-a-thousand-times-yes.html|access-date=2021-12-20|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226105530/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/weekinreview/yes-virginia-a-thousand-times-yes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Campbell describes it as living on as "enduring inspiration in American journalism."{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|p=196}} Journalist [[David W. Dunlap]] described "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" as one of the most famous lines in American journalism, placing it after "[[Headless body in topless bar]]" and "[[Dewey Defeats Truman]]".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=2015-12-25|title=1933 {{!}} P.S., Virginia, There's a New York Times, Too|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/insider/1933-ps-virginia-theres-a-new-york-times-too.html|access-date=2021-12-24|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224152836/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/24/insider/1933-ps-virginia-theres-a-new-york-times-too.html|url-status=live}}</ref> William David Sloan, a journalism scholar, described the line as "perhaps America's most famous editorial quote" and the editorial as "the nation's best known."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sloan |first=William David |date=Fall 1979 |title=Question: 'Is There a Santa Claus?' |pages=24–25 |work=The Masthead |publisher=National Conference of Editorial Writers |location=Rockville, Maryland}}</ref>
==Adaptations and legacy==
The 1921 book ''Is There a Santa Claus?'' was adapted from the editorial.<ref name=":32" /> The editorial became better known with the rise of [[mass media]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Kaplan |first=Fred |date=1997-12-22 |title=A child's query echoes across the ages |pages=3 |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115575315/a-childs-query-echoes-across-the/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101171636/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115575315/a-childs-query-echoes-across-the/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The story of Virginia's inquiry and the response from ''The Sun'' was adapted in 1932 into an [[NBC]]-produced [[cantata]], making it the only known editorial set to classical music.{{Sfn|Bowler|2000|pp=252&ndash;253}} In the 1940s it was read yearly by actress [[Fay Bainter]] over the radio.<ref name=":5" /> The editorial has been adapted to film several times, including as a segment of the short film ''Santa Claus Story'' (1945).{{Sfn|Crump|2019|p=349}}
Elizabeth Press published the 1972 children's book ''Yes, Virginia'' that illustrated the editorial and included a brief history of those involved.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Long |first=Sidney |date=December 3, 1972 |title=... And a Partridge in a Pear Tree |page=BR8 |work=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331 |id={{PQ|119470293}}}}</ref> The highly fictionalized 1974 animated television special ''Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus'' aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. Animated by [[Bill Melendez]], it won the [[27th Primetime Emmy Awards|1975 Emmy Award]] for outstanding children's special.{{Sfn|Bowler|2000|pp=252&ndash;253}}{{Sfn|Crump|2019|p=349}}{{Sfn|Woolery|1989|p=464}}
In the 1989 drama [[Prancer (film)|''Prancer'']], the letter is read and referenced multiple times, as it is the favorite piece of literature of the main character, whose belief in Santa Claus is vital to her.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Courtney |date=2020-11-02 |title=Sam Elliott Reading 'Yes, Virginia' in 'Prancer' Gets Us in the Holiday Spirit |url=https://www.wideopencountry.com/yes-virginia/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Wide Open Country |language=en-US}}</ref> The 1991 live-action television film ''[[Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1991 film)|Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus]]'' starring [[Richard Thomas (actor)|Richard Thomas]], [[Ed Asner]], and [[Charles Bronson]], was also based on the publication. The story was adapted into an eponymous 1996 holiday musical, with music and lyrics by David Kirchenbaum and book by Myles McDonnel.{{Sfn|Bowler|2000|pp=252&ndash;253}}
The 2009 animated television special [[Yes, Virginia (TV program)|''Yes, Virginia'']] aired on [[CBS]] and featured actors including [[Neil Patrick Harris]] and [[Beatrice Miller]].{{Sfn|Crump|2019|p=349}} The special was written by the [[Macy's]] ad agency as part of their "Believe" [[Make-A-Wish Foundation|Make-A-Wish]] fundraising campaign. A novelization based on the special was published the following year. Macy's later had the special adapted into a musical for students in third through sixth grade. The company gave schools the rights to perform the musical for free and awarded $1,000 grants to a hundred schools for staging the show.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Strauss|first=Valerie|date=December 25, 2014|title=Macy's gives its Santa musical to public schools for free – and gets tons of priceless publicity|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/25/macys-gives-its-santa-musical-to-public-schools-for-free-and-gets-tons-of-priceless-publicity/|access-date=December 26, 2021|archive-date=December 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213024434/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/12/25/macys-gives-its-santa-musical-to-public-schools-for-free-and-gets-tons-of-priceless-publicity/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Elliott|first=Stuart|date=2012-08-22|title=Giving Little Virginia Something to Sing About|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/business/media/macys-creates-yes-virginia-the-musical-for-schools.html|access-date=2021-12-26|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616233330/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/business/media/macys-creates-yes-virginia-the-musical-for-schools.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
The phrase "Yes, Virginia, there is (a) ..." has often been used{{sfn|Lovinger|2000|p=484}} to emphasize that "fantasies and [[Myth|myths]] are important" and can be "spiritually if not literally true".{{Sfn|Hirsch|Kett|Trefil|2002|p=58}}
== Analysis ==
The historian and journalist Bill Kovarik described the editorial as part of a broader "revival of the Christmas holiday" that took place during the late 19th century with the publication of various works such as [[Thomas Nast]]'s art.{{Sfn|Kovarik|2015|p=73}} Scholar [[Stephen Nissenbaum]] wrote that the editorial reflected popular theology of the late [[Victorian era]] and that its content echoed that of sermons on the [[existence of God]].{{Sfn|Nissenbaum|1997|p=88}} A 1914 editorial in ''[[The Outlook (New York City)|The Outlook]]'', building on ''The Sun'', saw Santa Claus as a symbol of love, part of a child's developing image of God.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1914-04-04 |title=Fact, Fiction, And The Truth |pages=746–749 |work=[[The Outlook (New York City)|The Outlook]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cExAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA746}}</ref>
The editorial's success has been used to offer insights to writing. Upon the centenary of the editorial's publication in 1997, the journalist [[Eric Newton]], who at the time was working at the [[Newseum]], described the editorial as representative of the sort of "poetry" that newspapers should publish as editorials, while Geo Beach in the ''[[Editor & Publisher]]'' trade magazine described Church's writing as "brave" and showing that "love, hope, belief—all have a place on the editorial page". Beach also wrote that newspapers should not hold "anything back", as ''The Sun'' had done by publishing the editorial in September rather than in the Christmas season. In 2005, Campbell wrote that the editorial, particularly ''The Sun''{{'s}} reluctance to republish it, could offer insight into the broader state of American newspapers in the late 19th century.<ref name="new details" />
Reception of the editorial has not been unanimously positive. As early as 1935, journalist [[Heywood Broun]] called the editorial a "phony piece of writing."<ref name=":6" /> Members of the [[Christian Reformed Church in North America]] in [[Lynden, Washington]] criticized it in 1951 for encouraging Virginia to think of her friends as liars.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1951-12-23 |title=Santa Survives Protest; Objection of Church Group to His Appearance Is Rejected |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/23/archives/santa-survives-protest-objection-of-church-group-to-his-appearance.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226220207/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/23/archives/santa-survives-protest-objection-of-church-group-to-his-appearance.html |archive-date=December 26, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 1997, the journalist Rick Horowitz wrote in the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' that the editorial gave journalists an excuse to not write their own essays around Christmas: "they can just slap Francis Church's 'Yes, Virginia,' up there on the page and go straight to the office party."{{Sfn|Campbell|2006|pp=196&ndash;197}}
== See also ==
* [[List of Christmas-themed literature]]
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
{{clear}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|chapter='Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus.'|year=2000|title=The World Encyclopedia of Christmas|editor-first=Gerry|editor-last=Bowler|publisher=McClelland & Stewart Limited|pages=252–253|isbn=978-0-7710-1531-1|location=Toronto }}
* {{Cite book|last=Campbell|first=W. Joseph|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781135205058|title=The Year That Defined American Journalism|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-20505-8|edition=|doi=10.4324/9780203700495|location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK}}
* {{cite book |last1=Crump |first1=William D. |title=Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1-4766-7293-9 |page=349|location=Jefferson, North Carolina}}
* {{Cite book |last=Forbes |first=Bruce David  |title=Christmas: A Candid History |date=2007-10-10 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-93372-9|doi=10.1525/9780520933729 |location=Oakland, California}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hirsch |first1=Eric Donald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAzOg4eQl2YC |title=The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy |last2=Kett |first2=Joseph F. |last3=Trefil |first3=James S. |date=2002 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-618-22647-4|location=Boston}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kovarik|first=Bill|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZIjICgAAQBAJ|title=Revolutions in Communication: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age|date=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1-62892-479-4|location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lovinger |first=Paul W. |url=http://archive.org/details/penguindictionar00paul |title=The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style |date=2000 |publisher=Penguin Reference |isbn=978-0-670-89166-5|location=New York}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nissenbaum|first=Stephen|url=http://archive.org/details/battleforchristm0000niss_c7h5|title=The Battle For Christmas|date=1997|publisher= Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-679-74038-4|pages=88|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|title = Common Nonsense|last = Rooney|first = Andy|publisher = PublicAffairs|year = 2007|isbn = 978-1-58648-617-4|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zPixJjgaqmEC&q=%22little+friends%22+Virginia+father&pg=PT162|location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Hy B. |url=http://archive.org/details/whengiantsruleds0000turn |title=When Giants Ruled: The Story of Park Row, New York's Great Newspaper Street |date=1999 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-1943-8|pages=129–130 |location=New York}}
* {{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962–1987 |date=1989 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-2198-9 |access-date=March 27, 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/animatedtvspecia0000wool/page/462/mode/2up |pages=463–464 |location=Lanham, Maryland}}
==External links==
{{Wikisource|Is There a Santa Claus? (New York Sun)|"Is There a Santa Claus?" (''New York Sun'')|single=true}}
{{Commons category|Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus}}
* [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1897-09-21/ed-1/seq-6/ New York Sun September 21, 1897 (pg 6 column 3)]
* {{youTube|28zUv0FRcBk|WTEN – Albany PBS – Virginia O'Hanlon reading the editorial to children in the 1960s}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H-ViwxC9FM WNBC-TV New York News Reporter Gabe Pressman's annual Christmas Eve report on Yes, Virginia There Is a Santa Claus, 12/24/2011]
* [http://www.wnyc.org/story/103271-yes-virginia WNYC New York December 1937 radio interview with Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas]
{{Christmas}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus}}
[[Category:1890s neologisms]]
[[Category:1890s quotations]]
[[Category:1897 essays]]
[[Category:1897 in the United States]]
[[Category:Christmas essays]]
[[Category:Christmas in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Christmas television specials]]
[[Category:Opinion journalism]]
[[Category:Quotations from literature]]
[[Category:Santa Claus]]