Christmas stocking

Tradition in Western culture threatens that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece or pile of coal.

One such legend has several variations, but the following is a good example: Saint Nicholas was staying with a poor family and heard that the father was planning to sell his three daughters into prostitution to save them all from starvation.

Other versions of the story say that Saint Nicholas threw the three bags of gold directly into the stockings, which were hung by the fireplace to dry.

[4][5][6] This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas.

originally, children simply used one of their everyday socks, but eventually special Christmas stockings were created for this purpose.

According to Phyllis Siefker, children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw, or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat.