Various tales of Mrs. Santa Claus, helper and hero in Christmases past
December 23, 2015 8:59 AM   Subscribe

The stories, legends and history that lead to the modern Santa Claus go back to the third century, but what of his better half? She is a relatively recent invention, at least in written form. First mentioned in reference and passing in 1849 and 1851 respectively, Mrs. Claus finally appears in person, with a babe in arms, in 1854 in a story written in The Opal volume 4 (a literary journal written by the patients of New York Lunatic Asylum in Utica). She didn't get a name until the 1996 musical TV movie, Mrs. Santa Claus, where Angela Lansbury is Mrs. Anna Santa Claus, the plucky wife of Mr. Claus who takes the sleigh out herself.

The story of a disgruntled or overlooked Mrs. Clause taking the sleigh goes back to 1889, when Goody Claus is tired of doing all the work and having none of the present delivering fun. Also, Santa has had a number of mishaps over the decades, causing Mrs. Claus to step in, as in Mrs. Santa Claus, Militant, a 1914 one-act comedic play.

Mrs. Claus disappeared from media mentions from the 1920s until 1961 when she reappeared in Phyllis McGinley's poem How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas (narrated by Rich Renik). Her appearance is generally one that is similar to the Jolly Old Elf version of Santa, with the exception of her appearance in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, the 1970 Rankin/Bass stop-motion Christmas special, where Kris Kringle falls for a school teacher named Jessica, and they get married, becoming the Santa and Mrs. Claus that are generally portrayed.

As you now see, Mrs. Claus has had a few different names. She has also been named Annalina, Layla and Martha.
posted by filthy light thief (29 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Final tangent: Kris Kringle is derived from Christkindlein, German for Christ child, entroduced by Germans in Pennsylania or there-abouts.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:07 AM on December 23, 2015


Even the idea that a Saint has a wife is pretty radical if you think about it. Is she like a Co-saint? Do they have kids? Maybe they are unable to because he is an immortal saint? Why can't she deliver the toys while Santa bakes and cleans for once? Anyway, Tim Allen, call me, Santa Clause 4, think about it.

(Great post)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:08 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Charlie Brown suggested her name was Mary Christmas.
posted by lharmon at 9:09 AM on December 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


She didn't get a name until the 1996 musical TV movie, Mrs. Santa Claus , where Angela Lansbury is Mrs. Anna Santa Claus, the plucky wife of Mr. Claus who takes the sleigh out herself.

Man, was I ever disappointed to see that this video was a link to the trailer for a thing that I somehow didn't know existed rather than the complete video.

Other than that, terrific post.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:13 AM on December 23, 2015


Mrs Claus is a shackle intended to lock Santa into a hetero-normative model.
posted by biffa at 9:15 AM on December 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Even the idea that a Saint has a wife is pretty radical if you think about it. Is she like a Co-saint? Do they have kids?

When my brother and I were little we had these wooden reindeer (kind of like this but three dimensional with heads and legs that slotted into the bodies) that were about waist-high (on us) that we kept out during Christmas time, and at some point we decided we were Santa and Mrs. Claus's children Nicholas (after Santa) and Elizabeth (because I liked the name Elizabeth and I was in charge of everything) and we rigged up a sleigh out of pillows in the front hall because we decided it was our job to help them deliver presents.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:19 AM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh my god; if the Mrs. Santa Claus DVD wasn't $60 on Amazon, it would be RUSHED to my house for holiday viewing.

The movie is set in December 1910. Mrs. Santa Claus is trying to convince her husband, Santa Claus, to take a new route, but he is preoccupied with the Christmas rush and won't listen. Disgruntled, she takes the sleigh out herself, but is forced to land in New York City, where she is stranded when one of the reindeer (Cupid) becomes injured.. As "Mrs. North", she takes up board with a family of Jewish immigrants, who don't celebrate Christmas. She befriends many of the local children and women, and becomes involved with political issues of the period such as child labor and women's suffrage

The musical score for Mrs. Santa Claus was written by Jerry Herman, the composer of such hit Broadway musicals as Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. Directed by Terry Hughes, the costume designer was Bob Mackie with choreography by Rob Marshall. The executive producer, David Shaw, is the stepson of Angela Lansbury. Screenwriter Mark Saltzman based some of the script on family stories of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Michael Jeter also plays the head elf, so this may be the gayest Christmas movie I've never seen.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:19 AM on December 23, 2015 [10 favorites]


Jessica Kringle was teh hotness when I were a lad.
posted by briank at 9:26 AM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Man, was I ever disappointed to see that this video was a link to the trailer for a thing that I somehow didn't know existed rather than the complete video.

It's apparently on Hulu, but I can't confirm that from here, so I didn't link to it in the OP.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:33 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mrs Claus is a shackle intended to lock Santa into a hetero-normative model.

Mrs. Claus is a beard.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:35 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Untrue. She had a name in the Rankin-Bass "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". Her name was Jessica.
posted by Docrailgun at 9:35 AM on December 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Doesn't Mrs. Claus also figure prominently in "Year Without a Santa Claus?"
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:42 AM on December 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's apparently on Hulu, but I can't confirm that from here, so I didn't link to it in the OP.


It is!!! filthy light thief saved Christmas!!!!!
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:43 AM on December 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


I played Mrs. Claus for my acting debut in the first grade school play! It was a tale told in verse - Santa was about to go deliver his presents but was unable to find his glasses, without which he was very nearsighted. After he issued an elf-wide APB and conducted a pole-wide search, I finally spotted them on Santa's head, thus Saving Christmas and further cementing his bond with his best beloved.

It was all quite dramatic. I remember none of my lines any more, though, nor do I remember who played my costar (but it was probably either Russ or Mike as they were the two kids who most closely resembled Santa in build).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:54 AM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


People saving Christmas is always great. Remember that time Summer saved Christmukkah? Excellent.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:54 AM on December 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Mrs. Santa Claus by Nat King Cole, 1953.
posted by emjaybee at 10:27 AM on December 23, 2015


I made a City of Heroes character (never forget) named Cindy Claus, whose powers involved ice. Only played her once a year, but what the hey.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:34 AM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


The severely underrated Aardman film Arthur Christmas has a small but prominent role for Mrs. Claus as the sole competent member of the Claus organization. Her given name is Margaret there.
posted by baf at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


That Jessica Claus was a stone cold fox.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:41 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mrs. Claus is just like Santa, except she switches between four different workshops instead of just one, and some of the elves move randomly for the first ten seconds of each year. Most people agree Mrs. Claus is objectively better, but Santa hit it big first and thus gets more attention.
posted by JHarris at 11:00 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


When I was a kid, I was TERRIFIED of Santa. Instead, I liked to believe that Mrs. Claus delivered the presents. One of my neighbors made a tiny Mrs. Claus ornament for our tree in honor of my belief.

This past summer, I took a picture at the carousel on the Kennedy Greenway in Boston for a contest (which has long since closed). My gussied-up, 1960s appearance drew some attention, including a little girl who said "you're BEAUTIFUL! Who are you?"

With her mom present, I beckoned her closer and stage-whispered "I'm Mrs. Claus. Santa and I are here to check in on all the good little boys and girls. Are you a good girl?"

The girl nodded solemnly, and that's how my photo ended up in the phone of a perfectly nice woman from the Midwest.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:02 AM on December 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


She was named before 1996 - the 1985 film 'Santa Claus: The Movie' credits Santa's wife as Anya Claus, played by Judy Cornwell.
posted by freya_lamb at 11:04 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


I love the Mrs. Claus named trivia, but I'm also pretty comfortable calling the name from the one starring Angela Lansbury as the official word on the matter.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:11 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Doesn't Mrs. Claus also figure prominently in "Year Without a Santa Claus?"

Yes, indeed. She gets past Heat Miser and Snow Miser by appealing to their mom (Mother Nature) to make them behave.

Santa is always so whiny in so many Christmas stories. Maybe he should just let Ms. Claus do the work.

Also worth noting: Mrs. Claus from the Fairly Oddparents Christmas special was pretty cute.
posted by emjaybee at 11:26 AM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mrs Claus Has Menopause from The Sterilles.
posted by brujita at 1:45 PM on December 23, 2015


Which Christmas special has Mrs Claus hectoring Santa to eat? She keeps calling him Papa, which is weird, since they don't have any children!
posted by Biblio at 3:48 PM on December 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


That's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (you'll also remember the Island of Misfit Toys, Yukon Cornelius, etc.) from 1964. Santa manages to gain the necessary weight overnight, which is the least weird thing in the cartoon.
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:59 PM on December 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


I have seen cards and other drawings of North Pole scenes at the Claus residence which include not only Santa, Mrs. Claus, elves and/or reindeer, but also have a penguin keeping Santa company. Now granted, penguins, being from the south pole, would be atypical there, so I'm guessing that s/he is a visitor or immigrant of some sort. Has Santa's penguin pal got a name, and/or a backstory, in the Christmas canon?
posted by acb at 5:00 PM on December 23, 2015


In 1970's "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" (source of the 'hot Jessica Kringle, aka Mrs. Claus' mentioned in above comments), Kris Kringle/Santa Claus calls his penguin pal Topper.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:16 AM on December 24, 2015 [2 favorites]


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