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The tradition of hanging stockings has been practiced for decades. There are more than one theory as to why people put up Christmas stockings. Here are two legends surrounding the history and origin of the Christmas stocking.

As the Dutch tell the story, the tradition of Christmas stocking was introduced into America by the Dutch. It is said that in the 16th Century, the children in Holland kept their clogs, filled with straw, by the hearth for the reindeer. At the same time, they placed a treat for 'Sinterclass' (Santa Claus) near the fireplace in the house. As a return gift, the Sinterclass used to leave some gifts for the children. With time, the clogs became stockings and Sinterclass became Santa Claus.

Another Christmas stocking legend is a nobleman and his wife had three daughters and they were all living quite happily. One day, the wife came down with a fatal illness, which led to her untimely death. Devastated, the nobleman lost all his wealth and property. Soon he was left with no money, and had to move into a peasant's cottage with his daughters. As the time came for the daughters to get married, the father could not afford to give any dowry.

As time passed, the father started getting very worried about getting his daughters married. One day, St. Nicholas of Myra happened to pass through the nobleman's village and heard the villagers discussing what the father was going through. St Nicholas knew that the father would be too proud to accept money from him. He decided to wait till dark and then, went to the nobleman's house and threw three bags of gold coins down the chimney.

The same evening, the daughters of the nobleman had washed their clothes and had hung their stockings by the fireplace. The bag of gold coins dropped into the stockings, one bag for each daughter. When the family members woke up in the morning, they found the money in their stockings. The father utilized the money for marrying away his daughters, each with a generous dowry. Soon the villagers came to know of St. Nicholas' generosity and started hanging their stockings by the fireplace.

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Q: Why do people put up stockings?
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