Christmas stockings: Why people hang them, what goes in them and where to find gift ideas | The National (2024)

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Christmas stockings: Why people hang them, what goes in them and where to find gift ideas | The National? ›

Loading them with gifts (for those on the nice list) is a tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages. Hanging up stockings has been a Christmas tradition for centuries. They're typically put up on Christmas Eve and filled with food, gifts and toys – by Santa, of course – but only for those who have been good.

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 toys, candy, fruit, coins or other small gifts when he arrives.

Initially, stockings were filled with simple and practical items, such as fruit, nuts, and small toys. However, it wasn't long before small, festive trinkets and novelties became the norm, further cementing the tradition of stocking stuffers as we know it today.

Foods like popcorn, chocolate, fruits, and nuts make great stocking stuffers that are often inexpensive. You can also add fun drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, tea, or small bottles of alcohol.

When is the most popular stocking-opening time and who isn't taking part in this pastime? The most popular time for opening stockings, with 32% of respondents, is before the gifts on Christmas morning. My family always does stockings post-gifts, but I'll allow it.

Saint Nicholas knew the family was very poor, so he threw three bags of gold coins down the chimney. The money landed in the sisters' stockings. Since then, children have hung up their Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve, hoping to find them filled with gifts in the morning.

St. Nicholas traveled to the house, and tossed three sacks of gold down the chimney for each of the dowries. The gold happened to land in each of the girls' stockings which were hanging by the fire to dry. The oranges we receive today are a symbol of the gold that was left in the stockings.

About 12-15 generally. Which will include two or three things that are carefully chosen "proper" presents and an assortment of sweets, stationery, toiletries etc that are pretty much the same for both daughter's.

How to pick stocking stuffers? ›

noun. US. : a small gift suitable for placing in a Christmas stocking. Another nice stocking stuffer: an uncirculated silver Eagle dollar.

Nearly 1.8 billion of a certain popular stocking stuffer are made each year. Beginning as a simple “sugar stick,” candy canes have been a popular stocking stuffer since at least the late 1800s. And each year, roughly 1.76 billion candy canes are made and about 90% are sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Christmas Stocking from the 1950s to the Present Day

Stocking fillers would include: 1950s: A penny, a satsuma, liquorice, an annual, and excitingly, the first sugar mice!

The options are truly endless: There are beauty gifts like makeup and skincare essentials, wellness gifts like a luxurious sleep mask and a nice candle, and small but luxe picks like jewelry and perfume.

FOOD-RELATED STOCKING STUFFER IDEAS

Fruit – Oranges, apples, bananas, anything that will fit in a stocking and has a protective skin. (Berries would be a bad idea!) Nuts – Keep this cheap by buying a large bag of nuts and portioning it out into smaller baggies for everybody.