Mrs. Claus
Encyclopedia
Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

, the Christmas gift-bringer
Christmas gift-bringer
on that page, and A number of Midwinter or Christmas traditions in European folklore involve gift-bringers. Mostly involving the figure of a bearded old man, the traditions have mutually influenced one another, and have adopted aspects from Christian hagiography, even before the modern period.In...

 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n Christmas tradition.

While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs. Claus has no precedent in folklore and is a literary creation by James Rees
James Rees
James Rees was an American author, playwright, and editor. He also worked as a salesman, and as a clerk for the United States Post Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 (1849), popularized by Katharine Lee Bates
Katharine Lee Bates
Katharine Lee Bates was an American songwriter. She is remembered as the author of the words to the anthem "America the Beautiful". She popularized "Mrs. Santa Claus" through her poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride .-Life and career:Bates was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, the daughter of a...

, appearing in her poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride" (1889). The character has since appeared in story, film, television and other media.

Origin

The gift-giving bishop St. Nicholas was never portrayed as having a wife, and only when he was transformed, via Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders and Artois...

, into the more secular Santa Claus in the early 19th century did a wife appear.

The wife of Santa Claus is first mentioned in the short story "A Christmas Legend" (1849), by James Rees
James Rees
James Rees was an American author, playwright, and editor. He also worked as a salesman, and as a clerk for the United States Post Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

, a Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

-based Christian missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

. In the story, an old man and woman, both carrying a bundle on the back, are given shelter in a home on Christmas Eve as weary travelers. The next morning, the children of the house find an abundance of gifts for them, and the couple is revealed to be not "old Santa Claus and his wife", but the hosts' long-lost elder daughter and her husband in disguise.

Mrs. Santa Claus is mentioned by name in the pages of the Yale Literary Magazine
Yale Literary Magazine
The Yale Literary Magazine, founded in 1836, is the oldest literary magazine in the United States and publishes poetry and fiction by Yale undergraduates twice per academic year.The magazine is published biannually...

in 1851, where the student author (whose name is given only as "A. B.") writes of the appearance of Santa Claus at a Christmas party:
[I]n bounded that jolly, fat and funny old elf, Santa Claus. His array was indescribably fantastic. He seemed to have done his best; and we should think, had Mrs. Santa Claus to help him.


An account of a Christmas musicale at the State Lunatic Asylum in Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

 in 1854 included an appearance by Mrs. Santa Claus, with baby in arms, who danced to a holiday song.

A passing references to Mrs. Santa Claus was made in an essay in Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...

in 1862; and in the comic novel The Metropolites (1864) by Robert St. Clar, she appears in a woman's dream, wearing "Hessian high boots
Hessian (boot)
Hessian refers to a style of boot that became popular in the 18th century. Initially used as standard issue footwear for the military, especially officers, it would become widely worn by civilians as well. The boots had a low heel, and a semi-pointed toe that made them practical for mounted troops...

, a dozen of short, red petticoat
Petticoat
A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing for women; specifically an undergarment to be worn under a skirt or a dress. The petticoat is a separate garment hanging from the waist ....

s, an old, large, straw bonnet" and bringing the woman a wide selection of finery to wear.

A woman who may or may not be Mrs. Santa Claus appeared in the children's book Lill in Santa Claus Land and Other Stories by Ellis Towne, Sophie May and Ella Farman, published in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 in 1878. In the story, little Lill describes her imaginary visit to Santa's office (not in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

, incidentally):
"There was a lady sitting by a golden desk, writing in a large book, and Santa Claus was looking through a great telescope, and every once in a while he stopped and put his ear to a large speaking-tube
Speaking tube
A speaking tube or voicepipe is a device based on two cones connected by an air pipe through which speech can be transmitted over an extended distance. While its most common use was in intra-ship communications, the principle was also used in fine homes and offices of the 19th century, as well as...

.

"Presently he said to the lady, ‘Put down a good mark for Sarah Buttermilk. I see she is trying to conquer her quick temper.’

“‘Two bad ones for Isaac Clappertongue
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...

; he’ll drive his mother to the insane asylum yet.’"


Later, Lill's sister Effie ponders the tale:
Effie sank back in the chair to think. She wished Lill had found out how many black marks she had, and whether that lady was Mrs. Santa Claus—and had, in fact, obtained more accurate information about many things.


Much as in The Metropolites, Mrs. Santa Claus appears in a dream of the author E. C. Gardner in his article "A Hickory Back-Log" in Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...

magazine (1887), with an even more detailed description of her dress:
She was dressed for traveling and for cold weather. Her hood was large and round and red but not smooth, — it was corrugated; that is to say, it connsisted of a series of rolls nearly as large as my arm, passing over her head sidewise, growing smaller toward the back until they terminated in a big button that was embellished with a knot of green ribbon. Its general appearance was not unlike that of the familiar, pictorial beehive except that the rolls were not arranged spirally. The broad, white ruffle of her lace cap projected several inches beyond the front of the hood and waved back and forth like the single leaves of a great white poppy
Poppy
A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....

, as she nodded emphatically in her discourse.

Her outer garment was a bright colored plaid worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...

 cloak reaching to within about six inches of the floor. Its size was most voluminous, but its fashion was extremely simple. It had a wide yoke across the shoulders, into which the broad plain breadths were gathered; and it was fastened at the throat by a huge ornamented brass hook and eye, from which hung a short chain of round twisted links. Her right arm protruded through a vertical slit at the side of the cloak and she held in her hand a sheet of paper covered with figures. The left arm on which she carried a large basket or bag — I couldn't tell which — was hidden by the ample folds of the garment. Her countenance was keen and nervous, but benignant.


Mrs. Claus proceeds to instruct the architect Gardner on the ideal modern kitchen, a plan of which he includes in the article.

Santa Claus' wife made her most active appearance yet by Katherine Lee Bates in her poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride" (1889). "Goody" is short for "Goodwife
Goodwife
Goodwife , usually abbreviated Goody, was a polite form of address for women, formerly used where "Mrs.", "Miss" and "Ms." would be used today. Its male counterpart is Goodman...

", i.e., "Mrs."

In Bates' poem, Mrs. Claus wheedles a Christmas Eve sleigh-ride from a reluctant Santa in recompense for tending their toy and bonbon
Bonbon
The name bonbon refers to any of several types of sweets, especially small candies enrobed in chocolate.The first reports of bonbons come from the 17th century, when they were made at the French royal court. Their name arose from infantile reduplication of the word bon, meaning 'good'...

 laden Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...

s, their Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...

 turkeys, and their "rainbow chickens" that lay Easter egg
Easter egg
Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans...

s. Once away, Mrs. Claus steadies the reindeer while Santa goes about his work descending chimneys to deliver gifts. She begs Santa to permit her to descend a chimney. Santa grudingly grants her request and she descends a chimney to mend a poor child's tattered stocking
Christmas stocking
A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children hang on Christmas Eve so that Santa Claus can fill it with small toys, candy, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as stocking stuffers or stocking fillers...

 and to fill it with gifts. Once the task is completed, the Clauses return to their Arctic home. At the end of the poem, Mrs. Claus remarks that she is the "gladdest of the glad" because she has had her "own sweet will".

In popular media

Since 1889, Mrs. Claus has been generally depicted in media as a fairly heavy-set, kindly, white-haired elderly female baking cookies somewhere in the background of the Santa Claus mythos. She sometimes assists in toy production, and oversees Santa's elves
Christmas elf
A Christmas elf is a diminutive creature that lives with Santa Claus in the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are often depicted as green or red clad with pointy ears, long noses, and pointy hats. Santa's elves are often to make the toys in Santa's workshop and take care of...

. She is sometimes called Mother Christmas, and Mary Christmas has been suggested as her maiden name.

Her reappearance in popular media in the 1960s began with the children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas, by Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley was an American writer of children's books and poet about the positive aspects of suburban life.McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon...

. Today, Mrs. Claus is commonly seen in cartoons, on greeting cards, in knick-knacks such as Christmas tree ornaments, dolls, and salt and pepper shakers, in storybooks, in seasonal school plays and pageants, in parades, in department store "Santa Lands" as a character adjacent to the throned Santa Claus, in television programs, and live action and animated films that deal with Christmas and the world of Santa Claus. Her personality tends to be fairly consistent; she is usually seen as a calm, kind, and patient woman, often in contrast to Santa himself, who can be prone to acting too exuberant.

Literature

Mrs. Claus has appeared as a secondary character in children's books about Santa Claus and as the main character in titles about herself.
  • Mrs. Santa Claus, Militant (one-act play) by Bell Elliott Palmer, 1914
  • The Great Adventure of Mrs. Santa Claus by Sarah Addington and Gertrude A. Kay, 1923
  • The Story of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus and The Night Before Christmas by Alice and Lillian Desow Holland, 1946
  • How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas by Phyllis McGinley, 1963
  • Mrs. Santa Claus by Penny Ives, 1993
  • A Bit of Applause for Mrs. Claus by Jeannie Schick-Jacobowitz, 2003
  • The Story of Mrs. Santa Claus by Bethanie Tucker and Crystal McLaughlin, 2007
  • Mrs. Claus Takes A Vacation by Linas Alsenas
    Linas Alsenas
    Linas Alsenas is a gay American author and book illustrator. After attending Harvard University, where he was an illustrator for the campus newspaper, he moved to New York City and worked as an editor for Interior Design magazine and then at Abrams Books for Young Readers. In 2006, Scholastic...

    , 2008
  • What Does Mrs. Claus Do? by Kate Wharton and Christian Slade, 2008

Movies

  • The first motion picture to depict Mrs. Claus was Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
    Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
    Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a 1964 science fiction film that regularly appears on lists of the worst films ever made. It is regularly featured in the "bottom 100" list on the Internet Movie Database, and was also featured in an episode of the 1986 syndicated series, the Canned Film...

    (1964), where she was played by Doris Rich.

  • Mrs. Claus (played by Judy Cornwell
    Judy Cornwell
    Judy Valerie Cornwell is an English actress best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.-Biography:...

    ) is also a character in 1985's Santa Claus: The Movie
    Santa Claus: The Movie
    Santa Claus: The Movie is a 1985 British/American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore and John Lithgow. It is the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind...

    , where she played a vital role in the film's story. It was her idea to give presents only to good children.

  • In the 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...

    , Mrs. Claus has a cameo appearance. She is seen in the kitchen of her and Santa Claus's home, preparing a lunch box
    Lunch box
    The lunch box, also referred to as a lunch pail or lunch kit, is used to store food to be taken to work or school. The concept of a food container has existed for a long time, but it wasn't until people began using tobacco tins to haul meals in the early 20th century, followed by the use of...

     and a vacuum flask
    Vacuum flask
    A vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...

     for her husband to take to work.

  • The 2002 movie The Santa Clause 2
    The Santa Clause 2
    The Santa Clause 2 is a 2002 American comedy film and the sequel to the 1994 film, The Santa Clause. All the principal actors from the first film reprise their roles, except for Peter Boyle, who returns portraying a different minor character...

    centers on Tim Allen
    Tim Allen
    Tim Allen is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his role in the sitcom Home Improvement...

    's character being forced to marry in order to continue his role as Santa. The "Mrs. Clause" confirms why every Santa has had a Mrs. Claus, because it is part of the Santa Clause. His wife is Carol Newman (Elizabeth Mitchell
    Elizabeth Mitchell
    Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...

    ) who was the principal from Charlie's school, and in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
    The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
    The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a 2006 American film, the sequel to The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2. This is the third and final film in the trilogy. This film was also scheduled as a Disney Channel Original Movie....

    , she deals with being Mrs. Claus, having a baby, and being separated from her family.

  • Played by Miranda Richardson
    Miranda Richardson
    Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....

     in Fred Claus
    Fred Claus
    Fred Claus is a 2007 Christmas family-comedy film produced and directed by David Dobkin, written by Dan Fogelman and Jessie Nelson, and starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti.-Plot:...

    (2007) co-starring Vince Vaughn
    Vince Vaughn
    Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...

     and Paul Giamatti
    Paul Giamatti
    Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...

    .

Television

Mrs. Claus played a major role in several of Rankin/Bass'
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...

 Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 specials. In Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV special)
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special, made by Rankin-Bass with models carved from wood . The film stars actor Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger, the narrator, and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus...

(1970), she is introduced as a teacher named Jessica, who first meets Santa Claus as a young man, when he's trying to illegally deliver toys to a town run by a despotic ruler. Assisting Santa, Jessica and Santa soon fall in love with each other, and marry in the nearby forest. In 1974's The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop motion animated television special. It usually airs during the Christmas season on United States television. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name, illustrated by Kurt Werth.-Summary:The show is set in the...

and the 2006 live action remake
The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006 film)
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 90-minute 2006 live-action remake of the Rankin-Bass classic The Year Without a Santa Claus which premiered on NBC December 11, 2006...

, Mrs. Claus played a large role, as she attempts to show Santa (who wishes to stay home that year for Christmas when he feels no one appreciates or believes in him anymore) that there's still some Christmas spirit left in the world. Mrs. Claus also made appearances in several other Rankin/Bass specials, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the USA, and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour...

(1964) and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July is a feature-length 1979 Rankin-Bass crossover sequel filmed in stop-motion animation in the style of their 1964 Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was 97 minutes long. Although designed as a theatrical release , it made its U.S...

; Santa calls her "Jessica" at one point in the latter, implying some kind of shared continuity.

The lady was also portrayed in a television musical, Mrs. Santa Claus
Mrs. Santa Claus
Mrs. Santa Claus is a 1996 television musical starring Angela Lansbury as the wife of Santa Claus. 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.-Synopsis:The movie is set in December, 1910. Mrs...

(1996), played by Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...

, with songs by Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman
Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...

. Neglected by her husband, she goes to New York in 1910, and gets involved in agitating for women's rights and against child labor in toy manufacturing. Of course, she gets to learn how "Santa misses Mrs. Claus", as the sentimental song lyrics have it.

One of Mrs. Claus's most unusual television appearances is in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Christmas special Billy and Mandy Save Christmas. In this story she is revealed to be a powerful vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

ss who, angry that Santa leaves most of the work for her, turns him into a vampire so she can take a break (which is about the six or seventh time she's done so), when she gets the idea to try and take over the world before Billy reconciles them. Another unusual appearance is in the Robot Chicken Christmas Special, during which, in a Dragon Ball Z parody sketch, she gains powers from the North Pole's radiation, and becomes a giant monster that Goku, Gohan, and Rudolph must destroy.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Melendez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy...

, Charlie Brown's sister Sally writes to Santa and asks, "How is your wife?" Later, in It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is the 36th prime-time animated TV special based on the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on November 27, 1992. It was the first Christmas-themed Peanuts special since the inaugural A Charlie Brown...

, she writes Santa's wife herself, and, when Charlie Brown comments that some people call her "Mary Christmas," Sally congratulates her on choosing to keep her own surname. In Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales is one of many prime-time animated TV specials based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It originally aired on the ABC network in 2002.-Synopsis:...

, Sally writes Santa Claus as "Samantha Claus", inadvertently thinking Samantha Claus is Santa Claus's wife.

Mrs Claus appears in A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...

, where she buys Alvin a harmonica after he gives his old one to a sick boy. Her identity isn't revealed until the end, when Santa returns home and she greets him.

Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile is a brand of wireless prepay service run by Sprint Nextel, operating within the Sprint Prepaid Group along with Virgin Mobile USA, Assurance Wireless, and payLo by Virgin Mobile. Boost Mobile uses GSMand iDEN networks...

created some controversy with an ad featuring Mrs. Claus in bed with a snowman. One version was briefly aired on late-night TV while two alternate versions were posted online.

Ad Age had some commentary about the spot, including “This latest ad from Boost Mobile and agency 180, Los Angeles, features Mrs. Claus doing something very, very bad.“

Even Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...

, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 and a number of local TV news channels commented about the ads. It may perhaps be one of the first popular culture depictions of Mrs. Claus in a less than idealistic manner.

Musicals

In contrast to her stereotypical portrayal, Mrs. Claus is portrayed as a woman bored with her relationship with Santa Claus in the song Sarabaya-santa from Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown is an American musical theater composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics...

's musical Songs for a New World
Songs for a New World
Songs for a New World is a work of musical theater written and composed by Jason Robert Brown. Its original off-Broadway production ran for 28 performances at the WPA Theater in New York City in 1995. The show sits on the boundary between musical and song cycle, but it is neither; it is an abstract...

.

In 1987, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....

 and Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....

released single Mr and Mrs Santa Claus, a love song sung by Jones and Wynette as Mr and Mrs Claus respectively.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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