We all know that Santa Claus is a jolly fella who races across the sky in his reindeer-pulled sleigh on Christmas Eve and need no introduction to him, but his wife? Well, that's a different matter.

Believe it or not, Mrs. Claus wasn’t always a part of the story of Santa. As a matter of fact, Santa used to be something of a loner, doing all the work by himself, but thankfully his wife came into the picture and began helping him out.

Mrs. Claus was first introduced to the public in 1849 in a Christmas story entitled "A Christmas Legend" by the American author James Reese. In the story, Mr. and Mrs. Claus appear to be the ones delivering presents for a family, but the couple actually turns out to be long-absent relatives returning home in disguise.

After her appearance in "A Christmas Legend," Mrs. Claus slowly began popping up in  in magazines and other stories. It was around the turn of the 20th century that Mrs. Claus showed up in a poem called Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride, written by Katharine Lee Bates. Her popularity grew from there, culminating as the strong woman who serves as Santa Claus’s backbone to this day. As we were all told as small children, Mrs. Claus helps Santa run his shop and build toys all year and then hold down the fort at home while her husband is off delivering gifts to good boys and girls.

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