Editing Christmas stocking

{{Short description|Receptacle for Christmas gifts}}
[[File:Stuffed Stocking (11958233475).jpg|thumb|upright|A filled Christmas stocking.]]
A '''Christmas stocking''' is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that is hung on [[Saint Nicholas Day]] or [[Christmas Eve]] so that [[Saint Nicholas]] (or the related figures of [[Santa Claus]] and [[Father Christmas]]) can fill it with small [[toy]]s, [[candy]], [[fruit]], [[coin]]s or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as '''stocking stuffers''' or '''stocking fillers'''.<ref name="Lessons"/><ref name="Dixon2016">{{cite web |date=5 December 2016|last1=Dixon |first1=Jeremy |title=Top 10 Christmas traditions and their origins |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/finest-christmas/festive-traditions-origins/ |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|quote=Leaving stockings out at Christmas goes back to the legend of St Nicholas. Known as the gift giver, on one occasion he sent bags of gold down a chimney at the home of a poor man who had no dowry for his unmarried daughters. The gold fell into stockings left hanging to dry. St Nicholas was later referred to by the Dutch as Sinterklaas and eventually, by English-speakers, as Santa Claus.}}</ref> The tradition of the Christmas stocking is thought to originate from the life of Saint Nicholas.<ref name="Dixon2016"/> In some Christmas stories, the contents of the Christmas stocking are the only toys the child receives at Christmas from [[Santa Claus]]; in other stories (and in tradition), some presents are also wrapped up in [[wrapping paper]] and placed under the [[Christmas tree]]. [[Tradition]] in [[Western culture]] threatens that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece or pile of [[coal]].<ref name="Lessons">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEnld0Rzvz8C&q=stocking+stuffers+fillers&pg=PA228|title=Lessons of Christmas|first=Daniel A.|last=Armah|date=1 November 2011|publisher=Xulon Press|access-date=25 December 2017|page=228|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1619048973}}</ref> Some people even put their Christmas stocking by their bedposts so Santa Claus can fill it by the bed while they sleep.

==History==
[[File:"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. . ." (5354088519).jpg|thumb|left|Stockings on a fireplace mantel.]]
Christmas stockings were mentioned as an established American tradition as early as 1823 in the poem "[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]". The origin of the Christmas stocking is thought to originate in the life of [[Saint Nicholas]].<ref name="Dixon2016"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas |date=2010 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0310873884 |pages=177 |language=en}}</ref> While there are no written records of the origin of the Christmas stocking, there are popular legends that attempt to tell the history of the Christmas tradition. One such legend has several variations, but the following is a good example: Saint Nicholas was staying with a poor family and heard that the father was planning to sell his three daughters into prostitution to save them all from starvation. Saint Nicholas wanted to help but knew that the old man would not accept charity, so he decided to help in secret. When he left the house after dark he threw three bags of [[gold]] through an open window; one landed in a stocking. When the girls and their father woke up the next morning they found the bags of gold and were, of course, overjoyed. The girls were saved from their sad fate. Other versions of the story say that Saint Nicholas threw the three bags of gold directly into the stockings, which were hung by the fireplace to dry.<ref name=Morris>{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Desmond|author-link=Desmond Morris|title=Christmas Watching|year=1992|publisher=Jonathan Cape|isbn=0224035983|pages=[https://archive.org/details/christmaswatchin0000morr/page/14 14–15]|url=https://archive.org/details/christmaswatchin0000morr/page/14}}</ref><ref name=Bowler>{{cite book|last=Bowler|first=Gerry|title=The World Encyclopedia of Christmas|year=2000|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|location=Toronto|isbn=0771015313|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00gerr/page/156 156]|url=https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00gerr/page/156}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Three Impoverished Maidens|url=http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/three-impoverished-maidens/|work=St. Nicholas Center|access-date=2013-11-17}}</ref>

This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold; this variation is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for Saint Nicholas. This is also the origin of three gold balls being used as a symbol for pawnbrokers.<ref name=Morris /><ref name=Bowler />

A tradition that began in a European country{{Which one|date=December 2023}} originally, children simply used one of their everyday [[sock]]s, but eventually special Christmas stockings were created for this purpose. These stockings are traditionally used on [[Saint Nicholas Day]] although in the early 1800s, they also came to be used on [[Christmas Eve]].<ref name="Osborne2012">{{cite book |last1=Osborne |first1=Rick |title=Legend of the Christmas Stocking |date=2012 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0310737391 |language=en}}</ref>

An unsubstantiated claim is that the Christmas stocking custom derived from the Germanic/Scandinavian figure [[Odin]]. According to Phyllis Siefker, children would place their boots, filled with [[carrot]]s, [[straw]], or [[sugar]], near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy.<ref name=SIEFSLEIP>Siefker, Phyllis. ''Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years '' (chap. 9, esp. 171–173) (2006) {{ISBN|0786429585}}</ref> This practice, she claims, survived in [[Germany]], [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]] after the adoption of Christianity and became associated with Saint Nicholas as a result of the process of [[Christianization#Middle Ages (7th–15th centuries)|Christianization]]. This claim is doubtful as there are no records of stocking-filling practices related to Odin until there is a merging of Saint Nicholas with Odin. Saint Nicholas had an earlier merging with the Grandmother cult in Bari, Italy, where the grandmother would put gifts in stockings. This merged Saint Nicholas would later travel north and merge with the Odin cults.{{Cn|date=December 2023}}

==Present day==
[[File:Stockings on floor.jpg|thumb|Homemade patchwork Christmas stockings]]
Today, stores carry a large variety of styles and sizes of Christmas stockings, and Christmas stockings are also a popular homemade craft. Many families create their own Christmas stockings with each family member's name applied to the stocking so that Santa will know which stocking belongs to which family member.

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Saints}}
* [[Economics of Christmas|Christmas shopping]]
* [[Christmas decoration]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Christmas stockings}}
* [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1883/12/26/106271284.pdf ''New York Times'' – The Christmas Stocking]
* [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-2000/largest-christmas-stocking/ ''Guinness Book of World Records'' – Largest Christmas Stocking]

{{Christmas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas Stocking}}
[[Category:Santa Claus|Stocking]]
[[Category:Christmas traditions|Stocking]]