Christmas Stocking Holders

You can be confident Santa will know exactly whose stocking he's filling with these Photo Stocking Holders. The metal frame holds a 3-inch photo. and you can easily change the picture each year to make sure you've got the latest picture to show Santa Claus.

When I was little, Santa always left a mandarin orange in the toe of my Christmas stocking. I always figured it was just an easy way to fill the toe. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned this practice is actually a tradition that harks back to the days of Saint Nicholas, the real man whose spirit of giving later gave rise to the tradition of leaving Christmas stockings out for Santa to fill.

Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived during the third century and was well known for his acts of kindness. He was particularly known for helping children. One of the most common stories about Saint Nicholas is the tale of how he saved three young sisters from being sold into slavery. Their father was poor and couldn't afford the dowry to marry them, so one night St. Nicholas crept by their house and threw in three bags of gold. Later legends claim that he threw the bags down the chimney and they landed in stockings hung by the fire to dry.

This legend gave rise to our tradition of hanging Christmas stockings by the fireplace. The gold Saint Nicholas used to save the girls from slavery was often represented as gold balls, and later these became symbolized by oranges or even apples. So the tradition of stuffing the toe of Christmas stockings with an orange is a reminder of Nicholas' gift.

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