The original letter sent to the New York Sun in 1897 by Virginia O’Hanlon. (Verified by PBS’ Antiques Roadshow as genuine).
One of the most popular Christmas traditions in the Twin Cities area is a family visit to the 8th Floor Auditorium at the Macy’s downtown Minneapolis store. This year’s dates for the free Macy’s Santaland are November 17 – December 24, 2012.
Macy’s has several additional Christmas activities on its 2012 schedule. Do you remember the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” letter that was published in the New York Sun in 1897? (See image of the original letter above, and click this link for the response from the editor). Macy’s is reviving that memory for this year’s Santaland celebration. Also, Macy’s is sponsoring a fundraising activity for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
A visit to Macy’s Santaland at its 8th Floor Auditorium in downtown Minneapolis will provide families with the traditional Santa Claus experience. Children can tell Santa what they would like for Christmas, and get their picture taken with him. Plus, they can enjoy homemade cookies, sweets and beverages at Mrs. Claus’ Bakery and then visit the Toy Shop to watch the annual animated display, “A Day in the Life of the Elf.”
Also available after their visit – a free holiday download, courtesy of Mannheim Steamroller.
Quick Links:
- 8th Floor Auditorium Santaland in downtown Minneapolis
- Create Your Letter to Santa
- Yes, Virginia
- Wikipedia – Yes Virginia, There is a Santa (photo of Virginia)
- Santa’s Post Office
- Make-A-Wish
- Macy’s Events – Multiple Locations
- Macy’s Website
Tagged with: charities; Christmas; events; holidays; local; on the beat; recreation
Sources:
http://www.macys.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus
http://social.macys.com/believe/#/events/santalandminneapolis
Note: Event information can change due to all kinds of circumstances. Always visit the websites listed under sources to confirm dates, times, location, and other information.
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DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: The writer has no connection to nor was paid by any company, brand or product described in the articles above.
I don’t want to even think about Christmas right now.
Hi Susan! I fully understand – seems much too early to think about it now. People here do look forward to this event. There have been a huge number of keyword searches for information coming into my website. Also, last year’s article about this Macy event has garnered the second largest number of page views of any article published to date on the “Beat.” Having stood in long lines many times myself to see 8th floor auditorium events, I can testify first hand to their popularity! rcj
Ugh! I was hoping it was not “A Day in the Life of an Elf” for a 5th year in a row! It used to be a tradition to go every year with family from out of town but we have stopped since they started repeating the same thing! There have been some fabulous displays in the past (The Grinch and Harry Potter to name a few) and it would be nice to at least recycle the different displays from the past years (in case there is no money to create new displays anymore). I think Macy’s might be losing a lot of people by repeating the same display year after year!
I appreciate your visit to my site, and your comment. I received a similar comment recently on my last year’s posting: http://rcjohnsonwriter.com/?p=9243. Maybe someone at Macy’s will read these comments and take the hint!! My best holiday wishes to you and your family. rcj