How a typo in an ad led to a US Christmas tradition

[edhopper]

https://www.history.com/news/the-wrong-number-that-launched-the-santa-tracker

Anxious that the caller might be the president or a four-star general warning of an atomic attack on the United States, Shoup steeled himself as he answered the hotline that was directly wired from his command post in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to the Pentagon.

“Yes, sir, this is Colonel Shoup,” he answered in his finest military cadence. Met with only silence, he repeated, “Sir, this is Colonel Shoup.” Still nothing. “Sir, can you read me alright?” Shoup asked before he received a most unexpected reply from the soft voice of a child.

“Are you really Santa Claus?”

[bigtree]

1. very cool

...thanks for posting.

[Tetrachloride]

2. A sacred call

[Hekate]

3. How many of us remember this from the late 1950s? Reading this was a real slice of nostalgia for me

I got a kick out of NORAD’s Santa-tracking on our B/W tv — I thought it was just something that grownups were doing for us kids, and I was right. I just had no idea how it came to be.

[hlthe2b]

4. It ties in all the nostalgic elements, the child, Santa, the Sears Christmas catalog, and the

eternal "wait" on Christmas Eve.

Very nice bit of serendipity.

[calimary]

5. LOVE this!

[BumRushDaShow]

6. NORAD sent this out to broadcast networks in the mid-70s

https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2015/12/22/vintage-footage-shows-how-norad-tracks-santa/

Looks legit.

[William Seger]

9. I had no idea

... they had such sophisticated imaging technology back then!

[William Seger]

7. I've lived in Co. Springs for 30 years and I've never heard that story

Very cool.

[niyad]

8. Thank you for the memory, as I had forgotten how NORAD SantaTracker started.

Used to get a kick out of the CS local stations doing updates on the big guy's location. For one night in the year, it made living next to NORAD a bit less stressful.

[ZonkerHarris]

10. See how family friendly the military-industrial complex is?

[ZZenith]

11. They start the lies at a very young age.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Yep.

[edhopper]

14. This isn't a story about the MIC

it's a story about the people in uniform. We need to not confuse the two.

[ZonkerHarris]

15. See, good Marketing and Public Relations works like a charm.

[edhopper]

16. Sure

all people in uniform are inhuman, murderous ghouls.

[ZonkerHarris]

17. Never claimed any of that so you have failed in your debate attempt. Try to stick to actual

statements in the future.
Thanks for playing though.
It's been funny watching you lie about my claims.
So cute.
Like watching a toddler try to play with the big kids.

[edhopper]

18. You contend this story

of one officer's act of kindness 60 years ago is nothing but the MIC's propaganda.
So you are the one disregarding what the article says for your own agenda.
But, play on.

[ZonkerHarris]

19. I think you need to explain why you thought it necessary to make up claims of mine. Because now you'

re just a liar.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. This Story Was Covered...

...in an episode of the History Channel's "What History Forgot".
It's a charming story and it's great that they still get folks to volunteer to answer the phones every year.