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Stocking Fillers and their traditions around the world | Stocking Fillers from GettingPersonal.co.uk

11 December 2009

Christmas has been an important holiday in the lives of people all across the globe for centuries – although it's become more commercial and Westernised in passing years, with Christmas cards making an appearance in shops as early as September (much to the horror of customers, who actually ring up shops to complain about the increased levels of stress this induces in them!) and huge amounts of gifts and stocking fillers being marketed as soon as summer is over. Of course, the Christmas tradition started with the Turkish St. Nicholas and this global span continues today.

Of course, Christmas isn't Christmas without traditions – whether it be all the family gathering to watch the Queen's speech, a particularly special twist on a part of the Christmas dinner, always going for a walk in the crisp winter weather, or maybe even a particular set of stocking fillers making a regular appearance every year (chocolate coins seem a particular year-in, year-out favourite!). These traditions vary country to country – and the Christmas custom of stocking fillers seems to demonstrate this very well! One thing is the same in every country with regards to stocking fillers, though – they are becoming increasingly personalised, with more thought being put into them than just buying random junk and stuffing it into an old sock.

Christmas stockings and stocking fillers are possibly one of the oldest Christmas traditions and one that's been established in nearly every country which celebrates Christmas, though with a lot of rather interesting variations depending on where in the world you are!

The origin of the Christmas stocking is said to lie in Turkey in the 6th century, with the bishop who later became St. Nicholas. He was renowned for his generosity and kind spirit and used to secretly give small gifts to children on the day before Christmas. Legend has it that Nicholas was passing by a house in which a father lived with his three daughters and heard them all lamenting the lack of a dowry, which would mean that they were unable to marry. Nicholas spotted the stockings they had hung out to dry and slipped enough gold pieces into each to make a sizable dowry for each girl. This might even be where the chocolate coins which are such a traditional part of Christmas all over the world may have come from!

Across Europe, there are lots more traditions like this, which can be reflected in stocking fillers, too. For instance, Dutch children hang out stockings full of hay and carrots to feed Santa's horses – and they could then be rewarded with animal-themed stocking fillers, like our microwaveable cuddly toys, Ellie the Elephant or Poppy the Penguin. In Sweden, children wait eagerly for a friendly gnome called Tomte to fill their stockings instead of Father Christmas and the magical theme could be continued with one of our 'Build Your Own Fairy' doll making kits. It's easy to tie in specific traditions with personalised gifts, making Christmas a much more magical and fun affair!

Even for grown-ups, who might be a little more sceptical of 'Santa's' stocking fillers, there's a huge variety of personalised gifts which can be really fun and start Christmas Day off with a bang. In Mexico, the Poinsettia myth has been traditional for years and is perfect for the green-fingered amongst you! The story goes that two poor children, Pablo and Maria, heard that the baby Jesus had been born and set out to the church to give him a gift. However, the only thing they could afford was a bunch of weeds and once they got to the church, they were mocked by the other children who had brought elaborate bouquets of flowers. Yet when the baby looked at the weeds the two poor children had brought, they instantly blossomed into a beautiful bunch of flame red flowers – the Poinsettia flowers. In Mexico, it is now traditional to include flowers or plants as stocking fillers – and you can do the same with one of the 'Grow Your Own' botanical box sets that we have to offer.

Though some of these myths have been around for more than a thousand years, there are still plenty of ways to keep up the various Christmas traditions around the world – all you need is a personal touch and a bit of thought put into the creation of the stocking. But the legend of St Nicholas reminds us what Christmas is really about – it's a time for generosity and for kindness, as well as having lots of fun, so stocking fillers should reflect all of these things to help your Christmas Day start off as it means to go on!



Related article: Give Santa a break, stunning stocking fillers on-line (Stocking Fillers)
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