Hung by the chimney with care

 

“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.”

This classic line is from 1823, when Clement Clarke Moore (or possibly Henry Livingston Jr.) wrote “A Visit From Saint Nicholas,”  The history of hanging stocking by the fire place can be tracked to this story, or if you are to believe the 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' ledged, stockings were a clever plan to defeat the tyranny of the Burgermeister Meisterburger.  Either way, Christmas stockings became a yearly tradition for many. 

When I was a little kid our Christmas mantel was graced by a collection of Woolworth Christmas stockings.  Our family went with the standard red, with the white pho-fur cuff with our names in glitter glued into that fur.  Each year the stockings held traditional goodies that were reveled in the early morning.  We would find an orange (a harbinger of spring is on it’s way), the candy cane tube with m&m’s and the mystery chocolate Whitman Sampler to name a few. 

The yearly Christmas tradition was the same until the year my brother gifted us with personalized stockings.  Each stocking reflecting the interest and personality of the family member.

Here are my Mom and Dad’s stockings.  Mom’s with customized counter cross stitched birds on a Christmas sprig and Dad’s reflecting all of the fish he hadn’t caught over the years.  The second tradition that my brother’s action put into motion was the gifting of a Christmas stocking as others joined the family over the years.  When Jill joined our clan she was gifted a burnt orange boot with a rope script of her name and Rudolph the red nosed Bevo on the front. 

Of course the boot stocking being a little smaller than all others was rectified a decade latter when Jill was presented the Texas sized lone star stocking! 

When our girls came along, their first Christmas included the gifting their family stockings.  

Alex’s with snowflakes and the cuff as if it was a snowdrift sliding off the roof.  Sarah’s a Christmas candle and the cuff trimmed with silver feathers.  Each stocking garnished with a Heinz pickle pin for luck in the coming year.  

The power of tradition was reenforced with me last year.  I realized at the last moment I hadn't purchased oranges for the stockings.  Something I had done every year so my girls would experience a little winter magic like I did as a kid every Christmas morning.  Since to the best of my knowledge my girls never ate the oranges, not once, I shrugged off trying to make a last minute run to pick up the tropical fruit.  

After taking the stockings down and sifting through the goodies, Sarah expressed her disappointment in not having an orange.  Then it hit me, the orange wasn't just for having a naturally sweet treat, but rather a reminder that tradition matters, delivering comfort and seasonal continuity.  

My brother’s creativity continued to spread cheer as I had him create stockings for Jill’s sisters.  Lynn’s reflects her keen interest in her convertible Triumph in its classic styling.  Molly’s stocking screaming CHIRSTMAS! From the Muppets' Animal, complete with his chain and the body of the stocking being a monster’s foot.

Each of these stockings reflecting a family tradition and the tremendous skill my brother has in taking pieces of a person and stitching the thoughts into a meaningful gift that delivers holiday smiles each year as they are unpacked and hung by the chimney with care in anticipation of St Nick.

A Visit from St. Nicholas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ’kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle,
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!