It’s time for Page Two: News that might not make the front page for Wednesday, December 24, 2025.
Of all the letters to Santa, this one about Santa stands out. You may know it. It was first printed in the New York Sun in 1897.
The paper received a letter to the editor by 8 year old Virginia O Hanlon. Editor Francis Church was assigned to respond. It became one of the most reprinted editorials in history. The letter is as relevant today as it was 128 years ago.
Dear Editor, she wrote.
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?
Virginia O’Hanlon
115 West 95th Street
New York City
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.
There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!
You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that no children or men can see.
Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen or unseeable in the world……
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.
Today is Christmas Eve. Page 2 will take a break tomorrow and will be back on Friday with events for the weekend. We wish you all well!
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This Page Two article was read by Lee Henrikson. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Wednesday, December 24, 2025.