We all know the saying….‘the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.’ But where does the tradition of hanging socks at our fireplace really come from?
The history of the Christmas stocking dates back centuries, and although a tradition that has been celebrated in most countries for hundreds of years, there is some uncertainty where the tradition really began.
A dowry for his daughters
The most well-known legend of the stocking involves the story of a widower who has been left penniless and with three daughters to raise. His greatest concern is that he has no dowry, or money brought by a bride to her husband at marriage, so his daughters can marry a proper gentlemen of wealth. Saint Nicholas hears this news and delivers to the daughters three gold balls to use as their dowries. The gold balls are left for the daughters in the stockings they have hung by the fire to dry.
Like many folk tales, this story has variations that have been shared over the years.
It’s believed that the tradition of giving oranges in stockings originated from this tale. Of course, Santa cannot give gold balls to all the ‘good little girls and boys’ but oranges have a similar appearance and are considered a delicacy in the winter months.
Shoes or socks
Other legends don’t involve socks or stockings, but shoes that are left on windowsills or in doorways.
On the night before December 12, it is customary for Icelandic children to put one of their shoes in the window, as that night the first Yule Lad “Stekkjarstaur” – or Sheep-Cote Clod – comes to town. The shoe stays on the windowsill until Christmas, and the children hope that the Yule Lads, who come into town from the mountains one by one on the nights leading up to Christmas, will leave a little something for them in the shoe.
Learn more about the Yule Lads in our Weird and Wacky blog.
What makes a stocking?
The type of stockings used over the years have varied considerably. From using a basic sock or stocking, or today a store-bought stocking that serves more as decor rather than the primary way for Santa Claus to leave his gifts.
Stockings tend to be filled with a variety of gifts over the years, too. Early gifts were candy, fruit or special treats for children. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, general stores and catalogs would sell prefilled stockings with a variety of candies and small trinkets.
Today, stockings are typically filled with small toys or gifts that are an amuse bouche for the larger gifts awaiting little ones under the tree.
No fireplace? No problem. Through the years, creativity has found a way to allow for stockings to remain an important tradition honed around the holidays.
Soldiers were known to hang stockings from rifles. Those without a fireplace might hang a cloth line or line the stockings along wall hooks. The unwritten rules of the stockings have also been passed down through the years: 1) Each child has their own stocking 2) the bigger the better, as it might yield more gifts for. 3) The man in red fills the stockings on Christmas Eve during his annual visit.
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