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Laura Virginia O'Hanlon Douglas (July 20, 1889 – May 13, 1971) was a person who, in 1897, wrote a letter to the Sun newspaper questioning "Is there a Santa Claus?" On September 21, 1897, the Sun newspaper published a response, which became just as famous as O'Hanlon's letter, particuarly the line "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."

History with the Macy's Parade[]

In November 2009, as part of the Macy's Believe campaign, an animated version of her appeared in one of Macy's Christmas commercials. The following year, the character would appear for the first time as a novelty balloon in the 2010 Parade. Virginia is also one of the few balloons in the Parade's history to utilize a separate attachment; during the balloon's inflation process, Virginia's envelope was carefully attached to the balloons hands, one of the few other balloons to hold this destinction was Snoopy, who was attached with a list in 1985.

The Virginia balloon appeared for six Parades, and was retired after the 2015 Parade. However, in 2016, it was moved to Universal Orlando Resort and made her debut in the Macy's Holiday Parade, but was retired altogether the following year due to the Parade's rebrand into Universal's Holiday Parade featuring Macy's.

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