Christmas Stockings

For many people who celebrate Christmas, the holiday is full of small traditions. Decorating the tree and hanging lights, wreaths and mistletoe are just a few of the seasonal visual clues that mark colder weather and a possible visit from Santa Claus.

Actually, the chances of Santa landing on your roof in his sleigh are pretty high - the big gamble, though, is whether or not he stuffs your Christmas stockings with presents or a shiny lump of coal.

Hanging stockings over the chimney is an integral part of Christmas, and these oversized stockings are reserved for smaller gifts like candy and action figures. But why do we hang stockings anyway, and how did the tradition start?

Although most countries have their own variations on Santa, the oldest reference to St. Nicholas goes as far back as the third century. The ancient town of Myra, located in what is now modern Turkey, is home to a shrine dedicated to Bishop Nicholas. Over several centuries, tales spread detailing the benevolence and generosity of Bishop Nicholas, and this is where the idea of St. Nick as gift-giver began.

One of the stories, it turns out, involves Nicholas passing by the homes of maidens too poor to afford a dowry - money that a bride gives to her groom for their wedding. The bishop would throw gold coins down the chimneys of these maidens, where they would fall into stockings, which were hung over the fire to dry.

Dutch children take part in another tradition - one that may have directly influenced the North American practice of hanging stockings. The children leave wooden shoes out by the fireplace, which are filled with hay for Sinterklaas’s horse (the Dutch version of Santa Claus not only has a different name, but a different mode of transportation). Santa replaces the hay with gifts, and it’s thought that Americans adapted this tradition sometime in the early 19th century.

Every respecting itself professional, which Santa Claus is, necessarily has colleagues. People little conversant in the questions of appearances and genealogical new-year and Christmas characters consider usually, that all of it one Christmas wizard.

The names and descriptions of colleagues of Santa Claus are collected this page on a Christmas handicraft.

Santa Claus

Joulupukki (Finland). He has gray hair, neat beard and mustache. Red jacket, trousers, a dark leather belt and glasses. Joulupukki lives on the mountain of Korvantunturi (”mountain-ear”) in a log cabin or in the mountain itself. His wife Muori (Maria) and gnomes live with him. On Christmas, in ancient times he walked around treating obedient children and punished disobedient. An educative aspect of appearance was lost farther more. Modern appearance and legend is in a great deal taken from American Santa Claus. He is popular in Finland and others Scandinavian countries.

Saint Vasiliy(Greece and Cyprus). The strangest name of a Christmas character. Nevertheless children on Cyprus write to the wizard: “Saint Vasiliy, come, give me happiness, carry out all my wishes”.

Babbo Natale (Italy). Leaves the sledges on a roof and through the stove pipe gets into the house, where he finds a bit of milk and sweets left for him by kids.

Saint Nick (Belgium and Poland). Legends say, that he leaves golden apples at peoples homes, by placing them in the socks, hanging on a fireplace. At Christmas night he appears astride on a horse, vested in a miter and white Episcopal mantle, escorted by a faithful servant-moor, nicknamed “Black Peter”. In the hands of the servant there is a magic sack with gifts for boys and girls.  However, for all disobedient children he prepared birches.

Korbobo (Uzbekistan). On the New Year’s eve he arrives to the young kids on a burro, escorted by

Santa Claus

grandchild Korgyz. Instead of fur coat, Korbobo wears a striped dressing-gown.

Pakkayne (Karelia). Unlike most Christmas characters, Pakkayne is a very young man. His distinguishing feature is his mischievous character. Existence of Pakkayne was discovered quite recently, so that this character is young, both in direct and in figurative sense.

Mikulash (Czekh, Slovakia). He comes at night, on December 6th, on the eve of Saint Nick’s day. On the outside he looks like Santa Claus, but, unlike Santa, he carries gifts in a backpack. He is acompanied by an angel, in snow-white clothes, and a shaggy imp. Always glad to endow the good and obedient children of Mikulash orange, apple or some sweets. But if in the hooligans or idlers “Christmas knee-boot” a potato or piece of coal was found, it was Mikulash’s work.

Ajaz-Ata - Kazakhstan

Zul - Kalmykia

Father Cristmas - Great Britain

Weihnachtsmann - Germany

Mosh Dzarile - Rumania

Odzi-san - Japan

Father Noel - Spain

Father Paskual - Colombia

Pere No`el - France

Sait Miklaus – Western salavs

Saint Shaland - Savoy

Silvester - Australia

Sook-Taadak - Altai

Shanj-Danj-Laozen - China

Sho-Hin – China

Father Frost - Russia

Julebukk - Norway

Juletomte - Denmark, Greenland

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola advertising showed Santa delivering (and playing!) with toys, pausing to read a letter and enjoy a Coke, playing with children who stayed up to greet him and raiding the refrigerators at a number of homes. The original oil paintings Sundblom created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines, store displays, billboards, posters, calendars and even plush dolls. Many of those items today are popular collectibles.

[Show as slideshow]

S. Tepper, R. Bennett (c) 1955>

I broke my bat on Johnny's head;
Somebody snitched on me.
I hid a frog in sister's bed;
Somebody snitched on me.
I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug;
I made Tommy eat a bug;
Bought some gum with a penny slug;
Somebody snitched on me.

Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

I put a tack on teacher's chair
somebody snitched on me.
I tied a knot in Susie's hair
somebody snitched on me.
I did a dance on Mommy's plants
climbed a tree and tore my pants
Filled the sugar bowl with ants
somebody snitched on me.

So, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.

I won't be seeing Santa Claus;
Somebody snitched on me.
He won't come visit me because
Somebody snitched on me.
Next year I'll be going straight;
Next year I'll be good, just wait
I'd start now, but it's too late;
Somebody snitched on me.

So you better be good whatever you do
'Cause if you're bad, I'm warning you,
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.

Stan Rogers, 1979, on Between The Breaks

This day a year ago, he was rolling in the snow
With a younger brother in his father's yard
Christmas break, a time for touching home,
the heart of all he'd known
And leaving was so hard

Three thousand miles away,
now he's working Christmas Day
Making double time for the minding of the store
Well he always said, he'd make it on his own
He's spending Christmas Eve alone
First Christmas away from home

She's standing by the train station,
pan-handling for change
Four more dollars buys a decent meal and a room
Looks like the Sally Ann place after all,
in a crowded sleeping hall
That echoes like a tomb

But it's warm and clean and free,
and there are worse places to be
At least it means no beating from her Dad
And if she cries because it's Christmas Day
She hopes that it won't show
First Christmas away from home

In the apartment stands a tree,
and it looks so small and bare
Not like it was meant to be,
Golden angel on the top
It's not that same old silver star,
you wanted for your own
First Christmas away from home

In the morning, they get prayers,
then it's crafts and tea downstairs
Then another meal back in his little room
Hoping maybe that "the boys"
will think to phone before the day is gone
Well, it's best they do it soon

When the "old girl" passed away,
he fell apart more every day
Each had always kept the other pretty well
But the kids all said the nursing home was best
Cause he couldn't live alone
First Christmas away from home

In the common room they've got the biggest tree
And it's huge and cold and lifeless
Not like it ought to be,
and the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on top
It's not that same old silver star,
you once made for your own
First Christmas away from home