Nothing says Christmas quite like the string of stockings left out for Santa to place a few precious small gifts in while everyone is fast asleep. Christmas stockings are a personal, functional, and wondrous holiday tradition. We’ve become quite creative with this tradition, making stockings of all shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. And of course, with or without a fireplace, we can always find an adequate place for our Christmas stockings.
I am equally guilty, like other pet owners, of running out and purchasing a Christmas stocking for my pets. Naturally, this appalls some people, yet those stockings seem to receive equal attention from Santa Claus, so he obviously doesn’t consider it ridiculous or silly. The dogs appreciate it.
The stocking is especially important to young children, as it is often the one place where Santa sends his messages about being naughty or nice. A child who receives gifts in their stocking has obviously been well-behaved, while the child who has misbehaved all year can pretty much count on receiving a lump of coal instead of small gifts.
Origins of the Tradition
When the tradition began in Germany, children simply used one of their everyday socks and hung it up on the mantle. Over time, someone came up with the lucrative idea of creating stockings specifically for Christmas. These days, we can, of course, purchase (or make) stockings that are bright, personalized, and as excruciatingly large as possible. Embroidering the stockings with names helps to keep Santa’s confusion to a minimum.
Originally, stockings were meant to hold five small gifts, one for each of the five senses. Fruit or candy pleased the taste, perfumes or bubble bath created the smell, something soft like a stuffed toy or even modeling clay appeased the sense of touch, a visually stimulating gift like jewelry catered to sight, and anything that produced sound for the ears rounded out the experience. All of these gifts would be stuffed into one small sock.
Other countries, such as Holland, still use shoes instead of stockings. Yet, for the most part, stockings have become quite universal. Universally speaking, stocking stuffers are getting larger and more expensive. It is not unusual for stocking stuffers to be too large for the stocking, and as a result, a small pile of wrapped presents may appear next to the stocking.
Stockings are fabulous for families with young children who wake up at the crack of dawn, eagerly anticipating the gifts below the Christmas tree. Allowing children to open their stocking stuffers while the parents wake up and grab that first much-needed cup of coffee can ease the children’s excitement without hassling the parents too much.
The legend of Saint Nicholas states that three young women, destined for a life of poverty since their father could not afford dowries to marry them off, received the dowry money from Saint Nicholas. Some say he attempted to remain anonymous in his efforts to help the three young women. One night, Saint Nicholas rode by their household and tossed the dowry money down the chimney. It is said that the gold coins landed in the young women’s stockings, which had been hung there to dry. Whether this is true, a sweet myth, or a combination of both, it is believed to be the origin of hanging stockings on the mantle.
Not all modern homes have fireplaces, so any location that Santa can readily discover is considered the perfect place to hang Christmas stockings. Some families hang them along a staircase or along the doorframe near the Christmas tree.
Some people still consider stockings to be a symbol of good luck, as they became after the three sisters received their dowry money. Interestingly, a surprising number of people hang stockings for Christmas without ever delving into the traditions or learning why we do this or when it all began. For most American children, stockings are simply another avenue for gifts to appear on Christmas morning.
While Christmas stocking traditions are unique to each family, the tradition itself carries a deeper meaning when people understand why we follow it or what it symbolizes to us.
