Yes,Virginia...

We will be forever be accused of pushing the Christmas holiday further and further back in the calendar, until one day the decorations will start to appear the day after Labor Day. Even then, we may not resist.

Catching up with yesterday's paper--which for a Saturday, and a holiday Saturday to boot-- seemed especially large, was a story on the famous letter to The NewYork Sun from Virginia O' Hanlon, an eight-year-old Manhattan girl asking for affirmation of the existence of Santa Claus.

The letter is famous, the response is just as famous, and the story annually makes its way into any number of newspapers at Christmas time, even on Christmas Day itself.

It's not that at eight years old Virginia should not have been thinking about Santa Claus, but does anyone realize she must have been thinking about Santa Claus in September? It's 1897 and the newspaper responded quickly with its now world famous editorial response on September 21, 1897.

It might have just been Virginia's nature to be thinking a little ahead of everyone else, and perhaps outside the box, by following her father's advice to seek confirmation of the jolly old guy's existence from one of New York City's many newspapers. Virgina, after all, did go onto receive a doctorate in education from Fordham University in 1930 and had a full career in the city's school system.

In September 1897, Thanksgiving is many decades away from being a national holiday and a demarcation for the start of the Christmas season. September is also a month ahead of Halloween. In fact, September 21 is just around the time astronomers are telling us summer is turning to fall.

Virginia O'Hanlon is given credit for eliciting one of the great printed responses of all time.

She should also be commended for being way ahead of her time.

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