How Did The Tradition of Christmas Stockings Begin?
The Story of The First Christmas Stockings
Each and every Christmas most of us hang stockings on the mantles of our fireplaces (or other places in the home if fireplace isn't present) and wait for the goodies to appear on Christmas morning. But when did this tradition begin? What do stockings and fireplaces have to do with the birth of Christ? Here's some insight into why we hang Christmas stockings during the holiday season.
It All Started With a Foolish Act...
It's harsh, but true. The tradition of our Christmas stockings actually started with a man who squandered his fortune away. Some say it was due to depression after his wife's death. Nevertheless, he left his three daughters penniless and without a dowry.
Because these three women had no dowry, they would be unable to marry. After all, in those days a man didn't usually marry a women without a dowry attached.
One night, as the sisters had left their socks by the fireplace to dry, St. Nicholas rode by the girls' home on his horse, saw the stockings hanging and flung gold coins down the chimney. The coins landed in the girls' stockings, becoming the very first stocking stuffers.
Today's Christmas Stockings
Today's Christmas stockings are still hung by a fireplace, but they're rarely filled with gold coins. Little trinkets and small gifts are placed into the stockings and children rush to see what's been left on Christmas morning.
And while the original Christmas stockings may indeed have been wet socks drying over a fire, the Christmas stockings of modern times are much more elaborate. There are stockings in all shapes, colors, sizes and materials.
There is one thing I wonder... What would those three daughters of yesteryear have thought of the Christmas stockings of today?