Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wanted to get to the bottom of this whole Santa Claus thing. Is he real? She thought so, but her friends said no.
So, in Sept. 1897, she penned a letter to the editor of the Sun newspaper in New York, after he father told her whatever one reads there is the undeniable truth.
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Veteran newsman and war correspondent turned editor Francis Pharcellus Church penned the response.
His unsigned editorial has become a holiday mainstay and the most re-printed newspaper editorial in any English newspaper.
As a little gift to our viewers, The West Block with Tom Clark asked MPs from across the country to read the historic editorial.
And if you want to know the answer before watching … Yes, there is a Santa Claus.