Advent Calendar - December 18 - Christmas Stockings

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum Oh, how Christmas stockings have changed since I was a child! Like food portions in our society, the stocking sizes have grown! A few years ago, Mom gave me my childhood stocking thinking I might like to hang it over the fireplace on Christmas Eve. Actually, I would have loved to but it would have been about half the size of everyone else's!

As a kid, we would find our stockings stuffed, on Christmas morning, with Santa's gifts wrapped in the same paper Mom used for everything else. I never could understand that but also never thought to ask.

I looked forward to the chocolate coins Santa would leave every year. In the bottom of the stocking there was always a navel orange which made for a good mid-morning snack. As an adult, I found out Santa always left Dad a navel orange in his stocking when he was growing up. It seems that it was a good way to make sure the stocking was full during the Depression and WWII years. My parents continued the tradition. I have been known on an occassion to put those scrumptious Cutie oranges in my family's stocking as well.


Photo by melalouise