Hang Your Stocking by the Chimney with Care

Author: Admin | Filed under: Christmas, Christmas History Tuesday Nov 25,2008

Christmas traditions; it’s always interesting to find out where they come from and how they began so let’s find out about Christmas Stockings.

A Christmas stocking is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that children in the United States and some other cultures 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. Tradition in western culture dictates that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece of coal.

But how did the tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace begin? One legend says that has it that St. Nicholas of Myra heard of a farmer who had three lovely daughters who feared they would never marry well because he didn’t have enough money to pay their dowries.

Knowing the farmer would never accept the money outright, St. Nicholas dropped three bags of coins into their chimney on Christmas Eve. The young girls had each happened to have washed their stockings out and hung them by the fire to dry, so when the coins were dropped a bag landed inside each stocking. The next morning the young girls woke to find the coins and went on to marry and live happily ever after.

Word of their good fortune traveled quickly and from then on, families would hang their stockings on the mantle each Christmas Eve hoping for the same fortune from St. Nicholas, who later became to be known as Santa Claus.

Originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but eventually families began creating their own special Christmas stocking adorned with decorations. One traditional practice is to reserve the stocking for five gifts that stimulate each of the five senses, such as fruit and candy for taste, a noisemaking toy for sound, small but visually appealing gifts like jewelry or books for sight, something with texture such as a soft plush toy or a silk tie, and something scented such as a bag of potpourri, a candle or cologne for scent.

If you want to find out more about Christmas Traditions, how they began and where they came from, check out An American Christmas - Its History and Traditions!

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'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

Ah, the opening lines of Clement C. Moore's 1823 Christmas classic, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" or better known today as " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas". This poem, probably one of the most well know poems in the world today, brings to mind endless traditions and dreams and memories, Santa and snow, reindeer and gifts, and the joys of Christmas past and present.

Christmas day may only come but once a year but the memories and the traditions you create during that special holiday season will live on for years to come!