The Christmas Stocking Tradition & Where It Came From

Many of us are already hanging our stockings by the chimney with care, but have you ever wondered why exactly we do this? It’s a fun tradition, but a pretty strange one. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where we would ask our beloved Santa Claus to put treats and toys in our smelly socks!

We decided to do a little digging to try and find out where, when, (and why) this tradition started. Unfortunately, we discovered that there is no official record of how stockings first came to be, but we did find a few interesting theories.

Why We Hang Christmas Stockings

Perhaps the most popular theory involved a widowed father and his 3 daughters. The family was quite poor, and the father was afraid there would be no gifts for his children’s Christmas. St. Nicholas heard of the family’s plight and decided to help. When he came down the chimney, he found the family’s socks hung out to dry. St. Nick placed gold coins and other goodies into the stockings to help the family get by.

Another way that stockings may have originated comes from the Dutch tradition of putting out shoes before St. Nicholas’s feast. This tradition involves children putting out their shoes before bed on December 5^th. When they awake on December 6^th (the day of the feast), they’ll find that St. Nick has left treats in their shoes. Sometimes hay is placed in the shoes the night before as a treat for St. Nick’s donkey.

No matter where this tradition came from, it’s now a Christmas staple. Stockings are just another fun way for children to be surprised by their beloved Santa Claus.  

We here at Meadows Family Dentistry would like to wish our patients and their families a happy and safe holiday season. To schedule an appointment at our office, please call today! Meadows Family Dentistry is located in Castle Rock, CO.