NEWS RELEASES
Is This Santa's Oldest Stocking?
21st November 2006
Across the nation on Christmas Eve children will be leaving out their Christmas stocking, waiting for it to be filled by Santa. Either hung on the bed post or over the fireplace this traditional ritual will be carried on throughout the homes of Britain. As toys got larger some stockings changed to pillow cases, but thanks to the I-pod age and miniaturisation stockings are making a comeback. To celebrate this yuletide ritual Horsham museum is displaying what is believed to be Horsham’s oldest stocking.
The stocking is quite revealing, for the knitted design is well ventilated allowing the gifts to be seen. Based on this revealing look Horsham Museum has created its own 21st century revealing stocking, stuffed full of goodies for those parents who want to give more than just sweets at Christmas time.
Would the finely knitted linen stocking made in Ireland during the reign of Charles I have been used on Christmas Eve to be stuffed fully of goodies? Possibly, though we don’t know when the tradition of using stockings began. What we can say is that today we use the word socks for men’s stocking, so the idea of filling stockings pre-dates that. Its popularity was such that it featured in a celebrated 19th century American painting of Christmas that helped create the festival that we enjoy today.
There is a traditional story that Saint Nicholas threw bags of gold down a chimney for a nobleman’s daughters who fell on hard times. The bags of gold got caught in the stockings, thus providing the daughters with a dowry so they could marry and live happily ever after, whilst in France they put shoes in front of the fireplace.
The 370 year old, 17th century knitted stocking is on display in the front hall of the Museum until Christmas.
For further information please contact Jeremy Knight, Horsham Museum Curator.
Horsham Museum, 9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HE
Tel: (01403) 254959 Email: museum@horsham.gov.uk
Website: http://www.horshammuseum.org/