The History of The Christmas Stocking!

Christmas today wouldn't be the same without the stockings that hung by the chimney with care ¦ The stocking is as symbolic of Christmas as the tree “ so have you ever wondered where the idea of the stocking came from? In the traditional holiday cartoon Santa Claus is Comin ™ to Town “ the town miser forbids the delivery of toys to the children. So Santa has to come up with a new way to get the gifts to the kids. He has the children hang their stockings by the fireplace and thus a tradition was born. The real history of the stocking is very similar to the one told in the classic movie (well at least one of the versions.) I found many different reasons why we use a stocking at Christmas. But the one version that stands the test of time is this one: A really long time ago a poor man worried about marrying off his three daughters. He had no money and was concerned with what would happen to them when he died. One night Saint Nicholas was passing through their village when he heard their story of the man and his three daughters. He wanted to help but didn't want to embarrass the man. So he decided to give them some money by doing it in secret. Saint Nicholas knew the girls hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry, so one night he left them one bag of gold each. That led to the tradition of leaving stockings or even shoes out for the secret gift giver. Today we hang the stockings by the fireplace to fit all the smaller gifts we give and get. I can remember my mom always putting my contact solution in my stocking or a gift card to my favorite store. My husband always gets a silver coin in his stocking. It's a tradition that continues despite the many miles that separate us during the holidays. The Christmas stocking is a fun tradition. The only question I have do you wrap or do you not wrap ? Thanks thehistoryofchristmas.com and Wikipedia!