June 20, 2008, Newsletter Issue #63: History of the Christmas Stocking

Tip of the Week

Have you ever wondered as you were hanging your stocking on the mantle, where did the concept of the Christmas stocking originate?

Legend has it, that years and years ago, a man who was in deep despair over the death of his wife spent their fortune and left his family without a penny to spare. Because of this, his three daughters would not have a dowry to take into a marriage, meaning they would not get married and would be labeled spinsters.

Evidently, a man known as St. Nicholas got wind of the widower's predicament and one night he rode by the widower's home and threw three bags of gold down the widower's chimney.  Little did St. Nicholas know that the widower's three daughters had hung stockings on the fireplace to dry after washing and the three bags of gold dropped into the stockings that the daughters had hung. 

This is how the legend of the Christmas stocking supposedly began and why people continue to hang stockings each Christmas in hopes Santa Claus will fill them with special treats, just like what happened to the widower many years ago.

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