One hundred thirteen years ago, Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun asking, "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?" leading to the paper to publish one of the most famous editorials in the history of print, which started off, "VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age... 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."

Today, the NY Times looks at how O'Hanlon's family has kept up the tradition of believing in Santa, in this age of Santa evidence kits: Her youngest granddaughter, Pat Hromalik, said, "Even when I knew that he wasn’t a person, there wasn’t any loss, because of growing up with this wonderful letter and beautiful response. When my two children got to the age where they knew there wasn’t Santa the person, they got worried about telling me that. They knew that Mom believed in Santa Claus."