This episode of Christmas Past discusses Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus, but not in a way that younger listeners could appreciate.

So, if there are little ones within earshot, either save this one for later or put in your headphones now.

Thanks.

In 1849, a missionary from Philadelphia named John Rees published a short story called A Christmas Legend.

It's the story of a poor family, a couple and their two children, confronting the fact that they're too poor to pay the rent that's due tomorrow on Christmas Day,

let alone have anything like a Christmas celebration, even a meager one.

There comes an unexpected knock at the door. It's an elderly couple saying that they're too

weary to continue traveling to the city two miles away. The family invites them in and offers

them what little food they have to share and a place to sleep for the night. The next morning, the children wake up to discover unexpected Christmas gifts.

The parents figured it was the elderly couple's doing, and when they went to wake them

up, it turned out they weren't an elderly couple after all.

In fact, they turned out to be the parents' long-lost older daughter and her husband.

They disguised to themselves the night

before all as part of an elaborate surprise. The daughter says,

Recollect that it is Christmas morn, and we now appear not as old Santa Claus and his wife,

but as we are, the mere actors of this pleasing farce. To which many readers in 1849, no doubt said something to the effect

of, hang on, back it up a sec. Santa Claus has a wife? Because as far as anyone can tell, John Rees's

short story, though largely forgotten these days, was the very first published mention of there

being a Mrs. Santa Claus.

Some people have suggested that even the historical St. Nicholas would have been permitted to marry,

because the first decree requiring clergy to remain celibate came about well after he'd reached the common marrying age of his day. But that's a whole separate discussion. The point is that

there's no reason to assume that Santa Claus wouldn't or couldn't be married.

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