Every year, my family hangs up Christmas stockings as early as possible, waiting in excitement for them to be filled. The shape of the stocking itself has become a Christmas symbol, which is strange considering it would just be the shape of a regular sock at any other time of year. But that won’t stop me from making sock-shaped cookies this December.
This interesting tradition made me think—why do we hang Christmas stockings in the first place?
I’m well-versed in stories of other classic traditions, but I’ve never thought about why stockings are used to give gifts during the holidays. Turns out, it’s not just because they’re an easy shape to fill and hang.
The Christmas stocking tradition is actually older than the Christmas tree tradition (at least in the US). And the story behind it is darker than you may expect, like many Christmas traditions. But at its heart, it’s a story about the importance of giving, even if the way it’s told is a little far-fetched.
The Origins of the Tale
This legendary tale is quite old-school (as you’ll see), and no one is really clear on where it started. In its current form, it’s believed to come from Dutch tradition surrounding Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas), but it has evolved over time for the hundreds of years since St Nicholas was bishop of Myra (now in modern-day Turkey). There aren’t any written records we can refer to—at least not yet. If anything, it’s certainly a great story.
It begins with a family of four: a father and his three daughters. The family is struggling, with the father recently widowed and quickly running out of money.
Money was not only needed to survive but also for dowries for his three daughters to marry. Without dowries, the daughters would remain in poverty. Some versions say they would have to become servants to make ends meet, others say the father would have to sell them into prostitution to feed the four of them. Either way, it’s pretty dark.
In walks Saint Nicholas, the man the legend of Santa Claus is based on. He heard of the family’s plight and wanted to help, but he knew the man would not accept money or charity directly. Instead, St Nicholas decided to climb up onto the roof and throw gold coins down the chimney. Then, he disappeared into the night.
The coins landed in the daughters’ laundered socks that were hanging by the fire to dry. The next morning, they discovered the coins in their socks and celebrated their good fortune. Little did they know, they had ol’ St Nick to thank.
But That’s Not the Only Version…
If the story sounds a touch far-fetched, that’s because it is. We have almost no evidence, and that’s not even the only version of the story.
The method of delivery is one detail up for debate. Rather than throwing coins down the chimney, some versions say St Nicholas came down the chimney and placed the coins in the stockings hanging by the fire. This tracks with the modern version of Santa Claus we know today.
Other versions say he threw bags of money through an open window as he was walking past. This seems more likely, although it does involve one of those bags of money magically landing inside one of the daughter’s socks from the window.
What he left behind also has a few variations. We’re clear on the gold part, but some stories say he used three gold balls instead of gold coins (certainly much easier to throw through a window). You’ll often see the symbol of three gold balls used to represent St Nicholas,
This is also a proposed reason for the tradition of placing oranges at the bottom of Christmas stockings, as they look like golden orbs. The other possible reasons are that oranges were a luxury at the time and a massive treat to get at Christmas, and that giving oranges as gifts represents the idea of sharing.
Even if this story does sound a little too good to be true, the same can be said for many of our holiday traditions. Have you heard of the Christmas pickle?
Enter Norse Mythology
An even more complicated story from the Germanic tradition comes from Norse mythology. Children would leave their shoes filled with gifts for Norse god Odin’s horses—anything from carrots to fruits or even hay. This is somewhat reminiscent of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa like we do today.
In return, Odin would fill the children’s shoes with gifts. Shoes became socks, and socks became Christmas stockings. The link between this story and hanging socks above the mantel is a little more distant, possibly explaining why the other story is much more popular.
How Did Stockings Spread?
The association of St Nicholas and this story is believed to have arrived in the United States around the late 18th or early 19th century. The saint himself is far older (4th century CE, to be exact).
The legend arrived on US shores by way of the Dutch, traveling from Europe to New Amsterdam (which you probably know better as New York City). St Nicholas Day was celebrated on 6 December, a day of celebration and gift-giving in the name of this beloved Saint. Early depictions of St Nick have Dutch elements and show socks hanging from mantels, explaining how the stocking tradition spread.
The close proximity of this holiday to the 25th of December meant many of the traditions of St Nicholas Day were subsumed into Christmas Day when it became popular in the 1820s. This was made clear in the classic poem we all know and love, A Visit from St. Nicholas, also known as The Night Before Christmas, from 1823.
‘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…
Hanging stockings was officially part of the Christmas tradition and continues to be today.
Stockings vs Trees
Today, the classic Christmas tree is the symbol most associated with the season, but that wasn’t always the case. Christmas stockings actually came first and were the preferred tradition for a long time.
Christmas trees are believed to come from Germany, although this isn’t confirmed. The tradition was imported from England in the 19th century, all thanks to the royal family. An image of German-born Prince Albert and Queen Victoria around a Christmas tree was published in 1848 and started a Christmas tree craze across England (the modern equivalent of going viral, I suppose).
From England, it spread to the United States.
For a while, Christmas trees became the ‘in’ holiday decoration, surpassing Christmas stockings. They allowed more space for gifts than the classic stocking that had been the staple for many years.
This caused quite a stir, and not everyone was happy about the replacement of stockings. But that is how stockings became the home for smaller gifts and Christmas trees for bigger ones, with the concept of ‘stocking stuffers‘ quickly becoming popular.
Both traditions are about sharing and gift-giving, so it’s no wonder they both stuck around. But globally, it seems the Christmas tree may have won the gift receptacle popularity contest over time.
Modern Christmas Stockings
Christmas stockings have stuck around for more than 200 years in the US, but the tradition looks a little different today.
For one, we generally don’t use old socks pulled out of the laundry (thankfully). Now, we have specially crafted stockings that can fit far more gifts than your regular socks. Many families make their own Christmas stockings with names for each family member, just so Santa knows where to put his gifts.
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