Before Santa can go on his global flight,
His wife gives him a kiss for the night.
His wife gives him a kiss for the night.
"Who keeps his red suit looking nice?
Who does he turn to for advice?
Who gives the brownies all their spice?
Mrs. Santa Claus."
Who does he turn to for advice?
Who gives the brownies all their spice?
Mrs. Santa Claus."
— Nat King Cole, "Mrs. Santa Claus"
The wife of Santa Claus in many stories. She's often portrayed as a kind, elderly matron who helps her husband and the elves in various ways, whether it's cooking delicious meals (possibly the reason given why Santa is so fat), or even helping supervise the toy factory.
Her origins are as varied as those of her husband. For example, a first name is rarely ever mentioned, and if one is, no two stories agree on it (though it's quite common for people to jokingly claim it's Mary Christmas). Yet regardless of how she begins, she usually ends up as a Granny Classic. Usually she's short and plump like her husband, but sometimes she will be tall and thin for an Inversion of Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa.
Her outfit is typically a red and white version of the classic granny dress, though it's become increasingly common to utilize green, to complement her husband. Sometimes she will wear a Happy Holidays Dress, but almost never a Sexy Santa Dress (unless she is crossed with Silver Vixen or is significantly younger than her husband). Still, ladies who are merely dressing as Mrs. Claus will often wear those dresses when paired with a guy dressed as Santa, especially a Mall Santa.
Averted in Real Life, as St. Nicholas of Myra had no wife nor children to speak of. Compare Cool Old Lady, Fairy Godmother.
Examples
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Advertising
- A 2016 ad for British department store chain Marks and Spencer
features Mrs. Claus receiving a gift request from a young boy, and visiting his house to deliver the package on Christmas Eve via helicopter. She also helps Santa get ready for his main flight.
- A series of Audi commercials has Santa in a red Audi being led by eight white Audis. In a more recent spot, Santa stops at at a home to unloard as a little girl looks out the window expectantly. Santa is searching for something but can't find it, to which the girl becomes crestfallen. Up drives Mrs. Claus to save the day as she brings the puppy the girl wanted which Santa plumb forgot.
- A rather poignant example in a British ad for Barbour jackets featuring Raymond Briggs' version of Father Christmas. In that graphic novel (featuring a rather gruff and grumbly Santa), Mrs. Claus/Mother Christmas is nowhere in sight, and this ad answers why: Briggs' Santa is apparently a widower. Over a century ago, he'd gotten a Barbour coat from "Mrs. C.", and despite mishaps in various homes over the years, it's held up and kept him warm just as she wanted it to. In the present day, Santa gets home after his deliveries, smiles at her photograph, and says, "This old jacket has kept me warm and dry all these years...thanks to you, my dear." (This is all the more poignant when you remember that Briggs, for all intents and purposes, was widowed twice: his wife Jean died of leukemia, and not long before his death his longtime partner Liz died after years of battling Parkinson's.)
Anime and Manga
- As the story primarily takes place in Christmas Town, Mrs. Claus gets a slightly bigger role in The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey than the original film. She helps with the Christmas Eve feast, and Santa toasts his gratitude to her.
Comic Books
- Mrs. Kringle from Jingle Belle is a notable exception from the Granny Classic archetype (something which is occasionally lampshaded in the comic). She's an elf queen who prefers aristocratic garments to aprons.
- The opening story of DC's Batman Smells, the 2024 DC Comics Christmas Anthology Comic, has John Stewart team up with Mrs. Carol Claus when Toyman steals the magic sack. (She was doing the deliveries because her husband was on a Justice League mission. She's also a Blue Lantern.)
Comic Strips
- Peanuts:
- In one arc, Sally thinks that Santa Claus is a Mrs. Claus, named Samantha Claus. Charlie Brown teases Sally at one point, asking, "Does Samantha Claus say 'Ho, ho, ho', or does she just smile daintily?"
- In another arc, after Sally asks Charlie Brown a lot of questions about Santa before writing her letter (like if he has a middle initial or a title) she decides she wants to write to Mrs. Claus instead of Santa, and Charlie Brown says that he thinks her name is "Mary Christmas". Sally is intrigued.
Congratulations on deciding to keep your own name.
Films — Animation
- Margaret from Arthur Christmas, whose husband Malcolm serves as the current Santa Claus. She's portrayed as a hyper-competent organizer who handles the political end of the Santa Claus operation (she mentions going over a "treaty with Greenland") and is skilled at just about every task she does thanks to taking numerous online courses.
- In Klaus, she's a Posthumous Character named Lydia. Klaus explains that he started making toys because they wanted a big family, but they never had children before she died. It's strongly implied that the strange way that the wind acts around Klaus is Lydia's spirit guiding him. In the Distant Finale, he follows the wind into the woods, intending to join Lydia, and disappears. Somehow this results in him actually becoming the magical version of Santa Claus.
- Mrs. Claus is briefly seen in the background at one point in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even though she's visible for a few seconds at best, the animators still had to trim her ears out of fear that it looked like Santa had married an elf.
- In the 1998 feature film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: the Movie, Mrs. Claus is a minor character who is seen attending ceremonies in the North Pole and showing support for her husband. However she doesn't interact with Rudolph and doesn't have as much depth as Santa.
Films — Live-Action
- After no signs of the existence of a Mrs. Claus in The Santa Clause, its sequel reveals that there's "The Mrs. Clause", a rule which requires Santa to have a wife within five years of getting the job. Somehow nobody remembers this until Scott only has a month left to marry or lose his powers. He winds up hitting it off with the principal of Charlie's school. The third movie gives more insight to Carol's new role as Mrs. Claus and her life at the North Pole.
- Santa Claus: The Movie started with Santa's origin, in which Mrs. Claus was already his wife before they were given their new roles. Anya, as she's called in this movie, helps the elves create the iconic red suit and is the one to first suggest that "naughty" children shouldn't get presents.
- Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Claus in the film Mrs. Santa Claus. She flies off to New York City in 1910, boards with a Jewish family and becomes involved in causes like child labor and woman's suffrage.
- She appears at the beginning of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians during the live newscast from Santa's workshop at the North Pole (believe it or not, the first appearance of Mrs. Claus in a movie or TV show).
- In the 1966 Italian Christmas film Il natale che quasi non fu (aka The Christmas That Almost Wasn't), she's one of the film's main characters who joins her husband on his Christmas Eve delivery. She's later seen reading a letter Phineas T. Prune sent to Santa when he was a child wishing for a Sailboat for Christmas. The letter was accidentally misplaced and never processed causing Prune to develop a disdain for Christmas and children in general.
- In Scrooged, she appears in the Show Within a Show film The Day the Reindeer Died, as the type of old woman you don't want to mess with. (The same movie has a Badass Santa too.)
- In Noelle, Nick and Noelle's mother. Noelle even once told her father that he was Santa Claus, and her mother Mrs. Claus, leaving Noelle wondering what her official title can be.
- The Christmas Chronicles: Mrs. Claus is a cameo in the end of the first film, but have a more consistent role in the second movie, busy to nurse the wounded Dasher and trying the cure the Hate Plague the elves are victims of, with Jack's help.note
- Violent Night: Mrs. Claus is alluded to, but never makes an appearance herself. Santa reveals to Trudy that he still loves ever after 1,100 years and that his Christmas wish is being able to tell her that. She later sends him the reindeer along with his warhammer Skullcrusher, and a cute note — too bad it arrives after he's already dealt with the mercs.
Literature
- The 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas by Phyliis McGinley helped popularize the character in the modern era.
- In The Santa Claus Book by Alden Perkes, Mrs. Santa Claus started off as Anwyn, the princess of an unnamed kingdom, whose mother died in childbirth and father died in an avalanche while trying to rescue some of his subjects. But just before she could ascend the throne, the bald evil regent Vontue put forth a Sameness policy/revolution where everyone was equal, bald, and dressed as drably as he did, Anwyn included. She and her handmaiden fled to the north, where they eventually ran into Santa.
- The Autobiography of Santa Claus: Layla and Nicholas stumble upon each other one night, and once Nicholas becomes better known as Santa Claus, Layla becomes Mrs. Claus. In the first sequel she is the central character instead of Santa.
- Bailey School Kids: After possibly meeting Santa Claus in "Santa Claus Doesn't Mop Floors", the Bailey School Kids have a later encounter with a woman who might be Mrs. Claus in Mrs. Claus Doesn't Climb Telephone Poles. The woman, Joy, is implied to be the wife of the former school janitor Mr. Jolly and in the middle of a spat because she feels unappreciated.
- In the bizarre novel Santa Steps Out, Mrs. Claus finds out that Santa had been cheating on her. She then does the mother of all revenge lays by seducing every single elf in the workshop in one weekend. She does this by using the same magic that Santa uses to visit all the houses in the world in one night.
- In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero Lost, they meet Mrs. Claus when they visit the North Pole.
- The children's picture book Santa's Husband gender-inverts this trope: It's all about Santa's relationship with his Mr. Claus. (Incidentally, Santa gets a Race Lift in this book, being a black man while his husband is white.)
Live-Action TV
- Barney & Friends:
- In the 1990 video Waiting for Santa from the original Barney and the Backyard Gang VHS series, Barney takes the kids on a magical journey to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, to show them how things are done at Santa's workshop. Santa isn't there, having already started his rounds (in fact he only makes a cameo appearance at the very end of the video), but Mrs. Claus serves as hostess to Barney and the kids.
- The 1999 direct-to-video special Barney's Night Before Christmas once again has Barney take his friends to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, this time with the Season 6 cast of kids. Santa himself is still at the workshop this time and has a bigger role than before, but Mrs. Claus is there too and helps to show the kids around.
- In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Santa Claus (1959)", which doesn't feature a Mrs. Claus, Servo quips that Mrs. Claus winters in Fort Lauderdale.
- El Chavo del ocho: La Chilindrina believes Mrs. Claus' name is "Mary (Merry) Christmas".
- The Cold Open for the 2006 Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live featured the song "Santa's My Boyfriend" sung by Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Maya Rudolph. All three discuss their visits from Santa with a series of DoubleEntendres and that they "can't wait for the time, when he'll truly be mine, and leave his bitch of a wife." They then discuss how he promised he'd leave Mrs. Claus and "They always promise and it usually works out, right?" Cue laughter and awkward pause before the sketch closes with them singing the usual Cold Open closer line to the tune of "O Holy Night".
- In the Ultra Series, Mrs. Claus is the human disguised form for Mother of Ultra, also known as Ultrawoman Marie, a decorated war veteran and medical healer from a crystalline planet. While it at first just seems to be a disguise, she and her husband are revealed to really give out presents on Christmas while not fighting giant monsters.
Music
- Nat King Cole's "Mrs. Santa Claus", from 1953, pretty much defines the character, and could probably be considered a Trope Codifier for the modern era.
- "Who reads the notes from girls and boys?
Turns in the order for their toys?
Fills every heart with wondrous joys?
Mrs. Santa Claus."
- "Mrs. Santa Claus" by The Oak Ridge Boys mentions how she waits up all night worrying while Santa's off on his deliveries, but that the elves try to cheer her up. It also suggests that listeners should write her a special Christmas card to help her believe he'll come back okay.
- The narrator of "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag" by SHeDAISY is clearly gunning for this role.
- Likewise the narrator of "Santa Baby"...or at the very least, Mrs. Claus wouldn't like her.
- Likewise the narrator of "Santa Baby
- Mrs. Claus is mentioned in "The Night Santa Went Crazy" by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Now that Santa is in jail, she spends all her time on the phone with her lawyer, negotiating the movie rights.
Radio
- The Reduced Shakespeare Company Christmas has the song "Mrs. Santa Claus".
Tabletop Games
- Mrs. Claus is a playable character in the North Pole Nightmare Special Feature for Final Girl (2021). She's just as much of a badass as any other playable Final Girl, and with her Ultimate removing the cap on her maximum HP she can become absurdly durable.
- In the card game Letters to Santa (a re-themed version of Love Letter), the second-highest card is "Mrs. Clause". (This card must be discarded if you also hold either an "Elf" or "Toys" card.)
- In the Deep 7 role-playing game Santa's Soldiers, Mrs. Claus is the grandmotherly-appearing and very deadly head of the the paramilitary elf branch. No-one knows her true story, no-one wants to ask. And should you cross her, she will "kick your jingly elf ass from one end of the workshop to the other."
Theatre
- Peter Fenton’s Maureen Gaines Claus, wife of Santa Claus, in See Amid the Winter Snow defies much of the normal tropes of Mrs. Claus and takes inspiration from Hillary Clinton. Here, she’s the Mayor of the North Pole seeking re-election and is arguably as powerful as her husband — though she retains her reputation in the world outside the North Pole as just “Santa’s wife”.
Theme Parks
- In the Christmas parade at Disneyland, Mrs. Claus is in charge of the mail room where the letters to Santa come in.
Video Games
- Papa Louie Arcade: Santa has always been a staple customer during Christmas in the games, but starting from Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe, Mrs. Claus would also make an appearance as a Christmas-exclusive customer, with all the perks from Santa (unlocked with a Silver ranking) also applying to her.
- In Saints Row IV, Mary Claus is part of the Christmas DLC missions. You can even unlock her as a homie.
- Mrs. Claus is summonable item in both Scribblenauts games. While she doesn't give out presents like her husband, during the level in the first game where you have to "return the favor to Santa" (by giving him something he likes as a gift), she is a solution. D'aww.
- The Holiday packs for The Sims 2 has a Mrs. Claus dress that is trimmed with white fur, thus is decorated enough to count as a Happy Holidays Dress.
Webcomics
- Erma: Part 11 of the 2022 Christmas Special arc features an appearance by Mrs. Claus. She is a large, pleasant middle-aged matron wearing an apron-like dress, although its color is hard to tell in a black-and-white comic. She speaks kindly but firmly to Erma, leading the ghost girl to realize that what she's doing (trying to steal a toy sword from Santa's Workshop so she can give it to a good friend) is wrong, no matter how good her intentions were. So Erma sadly gives the prized toy back and leaves empty-handed.
- Appears in Sluggy Freelance. She takes over from Santa when he's infected by alien DNA, including battling Bun-Bun with twin Uzis. She is also taken hostage by Bun-Bun during the Holiday Wars arc, and eventually helps trick him into using the Deus Egg Machina.
Web Video
- Princess Rap Battles has Mrs. Claus battle rapping against Mary Poppins.
Western Animation
- In the action cartoon Super Santa (from Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons series), the super-powered Santa is paired with Emma Claus, named after Emma Peel of The Avengers (1960s), who wears a Spy Catsuit under her more typical matronly robes.
- In The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, her name is Nancy, and she and Santa are old friends with Grim. She enlists him, Billy and Mandy's help when Santa is turned into a vampire right before Christmas. She's actually the one who did it, as she's the Head Head Vampire and was annoyed at him for leaving her with most of the work. She's Easily Forgiven at the end, as apparently this has happened before.
- In the Show Within a Show KISS Saves Santa, seen in the first Christmas Episode of Family Guy, Mrs. Claus is seen dispensing kindly advice to KISS before they go rescue Santa from pterodactyls.
- She also appears in a few Cutaway Gags, including one where Santa mocks her about not getting letters like he does. She's also Discussed in one Christmas Episode where Stewie believes that she has eating disorder, since Santa could get any woman he wants and she knows it.
- Played by Betty White in the Prep & Landing spin-off short "Operation: Secret Santa". She asks Wayne and Lanny to sneak into Santa's office while he's napping and take something from her, which turns out to be a simple toy wheel. It came from the first toy Santa ever made. She had tracked down the other pieces and put it back together for him as a present.
- Betty White also plays her in The Story of Santa Claus. Her name is Gretchen, and "Santa" is initially her pet name for her husband Nicholas Claus, because of his saintly kindness. A running theme throughout the special is that Nicholas, in his attempts to do good, keeps messing things up for them and others, but she stands by him regardless. She also advises Aurora, a brainy elf child who helps Santa in their mission, to appreciate Cloud Cuckoo Lander Clement, whose weird ideas help establish numerous Christmas traditions.
- She appears in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) as a vaguely European dark-haired woman who urges Santa to eat ("whoever heard of a skinny Santa?!"),note and who criticizes him for not appreciating the elves' singing.
- In the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas Special, Alvin has given away his prized "Golden Echo Harmonica" to a sick boy, and now needs to raise money for a replacement, so he can play it at Carnegie Hall. (He is afraid, incorrectly, that Dave will get mad at him if he finds out.) He fails, and is moping at the department store when a kindly old lady who is "very far from home" buys it for him, only asking for a song in return. The last scene reveals that she was actually Mrs. Claus.
- In an Animated Christmas Episode of The Nanny, Fran has a dream where she meets Santa Claus (Max). He told her that, while he's real, Mrs. Claus isn't. Given that he also looks like Mr. Sheffield, Fran briefly considers changing that...
- She's the star of The Year Without a Santa Claus (or at least the First-Person Peripheral Narrator), a special where she's trying to help her husband get motivated. She's also the one who takes Iggy, Jingle and Jangle to see Snow Miser and Heat Miser in order for it to snow in Dixie (to make the citizens and mayor believe in Santa Claus again) and Spring in the North Pole (to help her husband recover from a cold). While the Miser Brothers are against this idea, Mother Nature decides to kindly force them on making this happen by summoning lightning as a warning to them.
- She's actually given an origin in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, one of the few specials that portrays Santa as a young man. Named Jessica, she's a Schoolmarm who initially supports Burgermeister Meisterburger's ban on toys, but quickly defrosts when Kris presents her with the china doll that she always wanted as a child. When he, the Kringles and the Winter Warlock are imprisoned she breaks them out (empowering the flying reindeer in the process) and goes on the run with them.
- In Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, she accompanies her husband on his 4th of July trip to take Frosty and his family home from the circus before the magic that keeps them from melting wears off. To stop them, the villainous Winterbolt temporarily traps them inside a tornado, but Santa assures his wife that he can brave it because they're together. They also reminisce about the events of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.
- Ready Jet Go!: In "Holidays in Boxwood Terrace", Jet, who is playing Santa, casts Sydney as Mrs. Claus in the Christmas pageant. During said pageant, Mrs. Claus accompanies Santa in delivering toys.
- Mrs. Claus appears in the Future-Worm! episode "Lost at the Mall", voiced by Paget Brewster.