Stocking Stuffers: The History of Christmas Stockings

UNDATED - Every year, children and even some adults hang their stockings by the fireplace in hopes of a Christmas treat.

It's a custom that's been hanging around for some time.

The source of the first Christmas stocking may be none other than the original St. Nicholas. He was a bishop in Asia Minor back in the fourth century. And, according to the lore, St. Nick had heard of a poor man who wasn't able to provide for his daughters.

Discouraged, the man prepared to sell his daughters into slavery.

But, St. Nicholas refused to let that happen. He anonymously gave them a gift of gold, tossing the offering down the chimney.

The bounty came to rest in some stockings the girls had left to dry by the fireplace.

Now, in some families, children find a tangerine in their stockings, to represent the lump of gold left by St. Nicholas for the poor family.