For far longer than anyone can remember, we've been stuffing
stuff in our socks. Candy, coal, hay, expensive trinkets,
dollar-store finds. If it fits, chances are it's been stuffed.
But why stockings and not, say, buckets? Or pants pockets? Or
shoes? Well, actually we did try shoes for while, but the
formerly unadorned and underappreciated stocking eventually won
the job. There are many theories, but we're a little short on
concrete answers. Here, however, are some interesting tidbits
you can tuck away in your memory and savor by the fire on
Christmas Eve. The start of it all The prevailing theory about
why we started giving gifts in stockings is the stuff of folk
legend. It seems that good St. Nicholas was traveling through a
small village where lived a poor man with three beautiful
daughters. Like any father with a trio of lovely daughters, he
was worried about their future and how they would be provided
for. Nicholas, who had yet to begin his career as a legendary
gift-giver, was nonetheless a charitable m