“’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;”
‘A Visit from St Nicholas’ – Clement Clarke Moore 1823
Only a few days left ’til Christmas!! Have you finished decorating your house? If you are like me, this began the minute November rolled in… the radio was tuned into the Christmas channels, the boxes filled with all the decorations scattered the living room, the house smelled of freshly baked Christmas cookies and among the cluster and somewhat organised chaos, sat my son and dog waiting impatiently to dig in and unleash Christmas.
Alongside the Christmas tree, all the beautiful ornaments and the large decorative wreath for the front door is one of the most widely known and told of traditions as far as one can remember…the Christmas stocking.
Christmas stocking ad from a 1918 catalogue
Since the 1800’s, and their most documented reference in ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’, the stocking has evolutionised and transformed from the ordinary stocking found in a common drawer to something more extravagant, and in most cases, handmade. Even the lack of a fireplace or mantle was no hindrance for those who believed in the Christmas spirit. In some cases the stocking could be seen hung from other objects, even rifles (during WW II).
Most commonly, stockings throughout the 1950s would feature some reference to Santa Claus, his reindeers, or generally contain winter and snow-themed patterns.
Soon after, Christmas stockings became more of a fashionable ornament than anything else.
The most popular folklore as to why stockings are hung at Christmas goes something like this… A recently widowed man and father of three girls was having a tough time making ends meet. Even though his daughters were beautiful, he worried that their impoverished status would make it impossible for them to marry. St. Nicholas was wandering through the town where the man lived and heard villagers discussing that family’s plight. He wanted to help but knew the man would refuse any kind of charity directly. Instead, one night, he slid down the chimney of the family’s house and filled the girls’ recently laundered stockings, which happened to be drying by the fire, with gold coins. And then he disappeared. The girls awoke in the morning, overjoyed upon discovering the bounty. Because of St. Nick’s generosity, the daughters were now eligible to wed and their father could rest easy that they wouldn’t fall into lonely despair.
For years after, citrus fruits, mainly oranges tended to end up in Christmas stockings. Do you know why? Some say it’s from a time when fresh fruit was more difficult to come by and finding an orange in your stocking was a huge treat. But a different version of that beautiful-daughters-distraught-father legend swaps the gold coins left by St. Nick with three gold balls left in each stocking. Understandably, the solid gold balls tradition isn’t so easy to replicate and that’s why their citrus look-alikes have found their way into stockings alongside trinkets and baubles.
Stockings, from being hung exclusively on the fireplace mantel, were now seen hung on Christmas trees, in children’s bedrooms upstairs, and even across washing lines that were fastened across ends of the room.
I remember Christmas Eve, being snuggled tight in my bed, with my over-sized stocking lying across the bottom of my bed, waiting impatiently to hear the jingling of reindeer bells followed by the pitty-patter of footsteps on the roof. Pure excitement flowing through my veins. Did I ever hear this? No. Mostly because I ended up nodding off to sleep well before Santa arrived. But low and behold, on Christmas day my stocking was filled! Santa had come and I had missed him yet again. Oh well, there was always next year!
What are your fond memories of Christmas Eve? Do you have a particular stocking of choice, or any folklores that have been told to you by your parents, and theirs alike?
I love to make Christmas ornaments and still have the knitted stockings from my childhood (which I continue to hang up every year!).
In posts to come, I will be showing some of those ornaments and how to make them.
I would love to see and hear from you all, so share your pictures and tales below. If you have any pictures from your grandparents or even earlier share them too! It would be lovely to see how each and every one of you celebrate this time of year, and how we have adapted throughout history.
QuIrKaLiCiOuS 