Tales of Christmas
Hello, Santa Claus?
In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun with a question that troubled her young heart: "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?"
Editor Francis P. Church's response became the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," he wrote. "He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist... The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see."
The exchange captured something eternal about childhood innocence and the magic of belief. Virginia O'Hanlon went on to earn her doctorate in education and spent her career as a New York City teacher and principal. Throughout her life, she shared this piece of Christmas history with others, reading the famous editorial at holiday gatherings and keeping alive her childhood meditation on faith, imagination, and the unseen but essential truths that give life its meaning.
Victoria, the Trendsetter
The British monarchy transformed Christmas tradition when Prince Albert introduced the decorated evergreen, a centuries-old German custom, to Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria's embrace of this practice, captured in an influential 1848 Illustrated London News engraving, marked a dramatic shift from the simple holly and mistletoe that had previously adorned English homes. The image showed the royal family gathered around their table-top tree, glowing with candles (despite their fire risks) and adorned with sweets, small gifts, paper chains, and handmade ornaments—an intimate scene that, given Victoria's immense popularity, swiftly entered Victorian parlors across Britain and throughout the world. Wealthy families displayed multiple trees while middle-class households saved to have at least one, demonstrating Victoria's profound influence on domestic life and family traditions.
The Red Nosed
From the depths of personal struggle emerged one of the world's most beloved Christmas stories.
In 1939, Robert May, a struggling Chicago copywriter, was drowning in debt and caring for his dying wife when tasked with creating a Christmas character for his employer, Montgomery Ward. In this profound moment of despair, drawing from his own experience of growing up shy and small, of knowing "what it was like to be an underdog," he penned the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
What began as a simple promotional booklet transformed into a cultural touchstone when May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks set the tale to music in 1949. The song topped the charts, eventually selling 150 million records worldwide. The story's success lifted May out of debt and put his children through college, but more importantly, it delivered a lasting message that resonates today. As May's daughter Barbara Lewis put it, "Rudolph was made fun of, but he took his difference and made good use of it. He didn't let it get him down. It didn't get in the way when it came time to shine."
Milk and Cookies
The modern image of Santa Claus has roots in Norse mythology, particularly in the figure of Odin, the Yule Father (Jólfaðr). Before Victorian verses and the twinkling Coca-Cola advertisements of 1931 transformed Santa into the jolly figure we know today, he appeared as a tall, austere wanderer in a fur-trimmed cloak and broad-brimmed hat. During the twelve nights of Yule, Odin would lead his Wild Hunt across starry winter skies, much like Santa's Christmas Eve journey, bestowing gifts upon the worthy and judgment upon the wicked. His eight-legged steed Sleipnir, who sometimes pulled a sleigh, preceded Santa's reindeer, while his all-seeing ravens, Huginn and Muninn, kept watch over human behavior, much like Santa's list of the naughty and nice.
Just as families would leave food offerings for Odin and Sleipnir during Yule festivities, this tradition of feeding divine visitors endured through centuries. During the Great Depression, American parents transformed this ancient custom into a heartfelt lesson, encouraging their children to share cookies and milk with Santa despite their own poverty. This practice of giving takes unique forms worldwide: British mince pies and sherry, Irish Guinness, French wine for Père Noël, while Danish, Belgian, and Dutch children echo their Norse ancestors by leaving treats for Santa's horses rather than reindeer.
In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun with a question that troubled her young heart: "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?"
Editor Francis P. Church's response became the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," he wrote. "He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist... The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see."
The exchange captured something eternal about childhood innocence and the magic of belief. Virginia O'Hanlon went on to earn her doctorate in education and spent her career as a New York City teacher and principal. Throughout her life, she shared this piece of Christmas history with others, reading the famous editorial at holiday gatherings and keeping alive her childhood meditation on faith, imagination, and the unseen but essential truths that give life its meaning.
Victoria, the Trendsetter
The British monarchy transformed Christmas tradition when Prince Albert introduced the decorated evergreen, a centuries-old German custom, to Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria's embrace of this practice, captured in an influential 1848 Illustrated London News engraving, marked a dramatic shift from the simple holly and mistletoe that had previously adorned English homes. The image showed the royal family gathered around their table-top tree, glowing with candles (despite their fire risks) and adorned with sweets, small gifts, paper chains, and handmade ornaments—an intimate scene that, given Victoria's immense popularity, swiftly entered Victorian parlors across Britain and throughout the world. Wealthy families displayed multiple trees while middle-class households saved to have at least one, demonstrating Victoria's profound influence on domestic life and family traditions.
The Red Nosed
From the depths of personal struggle emerged one of the world's most beloved Christmas stories.
In 1939, Robert May, a struggling Chicago copywriter, was drowning in debt and caring for his dying wife when tasked with creating a Christmas character for his employer, Montgomery Ward. In this profound moment of despair, drawing from his own experience of growing up shy and small, of knowing "what it was like to be an underdog," he penned the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
What began as a simple promotional booklet transformed into a cultural touchstone when May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks set the tale to music in 1949. The song topped the charts, eventually selling 150 million records worldwide. The story's success lifted May out of debt and put his children through college, but more importantly, it delivered a lasting message that resonates today. As May's daughter Barbara Lewis put it, "Rudolph was made fun of, but he took his difference and made good use of it. He didn't let it get him down. It didn't get in the way when it came time to shine."
Milk and Cookies
The modern image of Santa Claus has roots in Norse mythology, particularly in the figure of Odin, the Yule Father (Jólfaðr). Before Victorian verses and the twinkling Coca-Cola advertisements of 1931 transformed Santa into the jolly figure we know today, he appeared as a tall, austere wanderer in a fur-trimmed cloak and broad-brimmed hat. During the twelve nights of Yule, Odin would lead his Wild Hunt across starry winter skies, much like Santa's Christmas Eve journey, bestowing gifts upon the worthy and judgment upon the wicked. His eight-legged steed Sleipnir, who sometimes pulled a sleigh, preceded Santa's reindeer, while his all-seeing ravens, Huginn and Muninn, kept watch over human behavior, much like Santa's list of the naughty and nice.
Just as families would leave food offerings for Odin and Sleipnir during Yule festivities, this tradition of feeding divine visitors endured through centuries. During the Great Depression, American parents transformed this ancient custom into a heartfelt lesson, encouraging their children to share cookies and milk with Santa despite their own poverty. This practice of giving takes unique forms worldwide: British mince pies and sherry, Irish Guinness, French wine for Père Noël, while Danish, Belgian, and Dutch children echo their Norse ancestors by leaving treats for Santa's horses rather than reindeer.