Nothing has a more significant meaning like the hanging of beautiful stockings over the fireplace mantle. Families have been exercising this tradition for many years. Even though these days, Christmas stockings are being used to hold precious small gifts, there is an actual legend that tells how Christmas stockings started.
The legend of the Christmas stockings started with a nobleman who was very rich and powerful but yet kind and gentle towards his fellow men. After the passing of his wife of a long and dreadful sickness, he was left with three daughters to raise on his own. They all felt grief and misery for quite some time after the passing of the wife and mother.
Some years later, this nobleman lost all his fortune and was forced to move his family out of their noble place to a peasant’s cottage where the three daughters had to learn to do their own cooking, sewing and cleaning. They lived a life of poverty. When his daughters were of age to marry, his heart was heavy with sorrow and he was extremely depressed knowing that they could never marry someone without some kind of substantial assets, money or property to give to the new husband’s family. One night, the three daughters had washed their clothes and hung their stockings over the fireplace to dry.
Nicholas heard the troubles the nobleman faced and decided one night during the Christmas season to pay him a visit. Looking through the window, he noticed that everyone had gone to bed and three stockings were hung over the fireplace. Nicholas all the sudden had a wonderful idea. He took three small bags of gold and threw them down the chimney one by one and they landed in each of the daughters’ stockings.
The next morning the three daughters discovered the pouches of gold and were able to use them to get married. The nobleman was full of joy to see all three daughters marry and he lived a long and very happy life. Maybe this is just a legend, but either way, this is believed to be the origin of hanging stockings over the mantel on Christmas Eve.
Christmas stockings are mostly hung over the fireplace on the mantle or somewhere practical and adequate if there is no fireplace. The tradition of Christmas stockings is still being observed and most often the stockings are filled with sweets, fruit and sometimes small toys. The majority of families these days add names of each family member to their stockings so that Santa knows which stocking belongs to whom. In the past, children used one of their everyday socks for stockings, but overtime stores have changed the size, design and colors of Christmas stockings. They are now more beautiful and can compliment any decor in your house very well.
Very few people nowadays use genuine stockings, most buy decorative Christmas stockings at their local stores or decide to make their own as a project. Making your own Christmas stocking can be rewarding and adding your family’s name has become very popular. Now the Christmas stockings are great to stuff them with a little something to eat such as candies or small toys to play with, like cars or yoyos. Children still love to open up their Christmas stockings to see what else Santa brought for them. A Christmas stocking is a tradition that many families throughout the world have adopted and has become very popular in so many cultures.
Leave a Reply