by Ruth Belena

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: November 07, 2009

The history of Christmas stockings can be traced back to a legend about St. Nicholas, who is now better known as Santa Claus. Young children continue the Christmas tradition of hanging stockings from their bedposts, or in a safe position near to an open fireplace, along with some food and a drink for Santa when he visits. On Christmas morning those stockings will be full of small gifts, and the snack left out for Santa will have disappeared.

The Legend

Late one night, Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, secretly dropped some gold coins down the chimney of an old cottage. The girls who lived in that cottage with their father were very poor. The father was a nobleman who had lost all his wealth, following some misfortune. He was too poor to provide a marriage dowry for his young daughters, and full of despair at the thought of his daughters never being married.

The gold coins landed inside some stockings, which had been hung around the fireplace to dry. The following morning the girls found the gold coins in their stockings, and their father was delighted. He could now offer a dowry when the girls found suitable husbands.

The man and his daughters never knew who had given them that unexpected gift, or how the gold came to fall down their chimney.

The Custom

The custom of giving small presents to children began as a way of celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas on the sixth day of December. By the sixteenth century it was traditional for Dutch children to fill their wooden shoes with hay and carrots, and to place them by the fireside the previous evening. This hay was to feed the horse that carried St. Nicholas. The following morning, the children would find small treats had been left in exchange for the hay.

The History

Dutch settlers took the idea with them to North America, where the tradition of receiving gifts from St. Nicholas became associated with Christmas.

European children continued to fill their shoes with hay on Christmas Eve. French children placed their shoes by the fireside, while Hungarian children would shine their shoes and place them near the door, or on a window sill.

Italian children left their shoes out on the eve of Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night. On the same night in Puerto Rico it was the custom for children to place green leaves and flowers into small boxes. These offerings were supposed to nourish the camels that carry the Three Kings, or wise men, on their journey to see the newborn baby Jesus.

By the early nineteenth century many American children were in the custome of hanging up stockings filled with hay on Christmas Eve. The hay was now intended to feed the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. In return Santa Claus left gifts for the children.

In North America the traditional Christmas stocking was first depicted by the artist Thomas Nast, in his illustrations for a children's story by George Webster, about a visit from Santa Claus.

In the early twentieth century children were starting to hang Christmas stockings at the end of their beds instead of leaving them by the fireplace. Christmas trees had also become popular, so large parcels began to be placed underneath the Christmas tree.

Most children now find gifts of toys and games underneath and around the Christmas tree, in addition to the small treats they find in their Christmas stockings.

The history of Christmas stockings shows how some things have changed over the centuries, but hanging up stockings on Christmas Eve is a well loved tradition, and the custom continues to be popular with young children.

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