When I was a kid the Christmas season beganwith Saint Nicholas Day on December 6th.Tim and I would put our Santa boots on the kitchen table the night before, and Saint Nicholas would fill them with tangerines, candy canes,and gold foiled-wrapped chocolate coins. At the bottom of each boot was a lump of coal(aka a charcoal briquette), which was a not-so-subtle reminder that we needed to be good to remain on Santa’s Nice List.
Since California was not settled by Germanimmigrants, Saint Nicholas Day is not celebrated.The Christmas season begins with Black Friday,but I miss Saint Nicholas Day.
We always did stockings as kids. Besides fruit, nuts and a little chocolate, we got a “book” of lifesavers which I continued with our kids.
At our first house, our neighbors were from Indiana. When their oldest daughter was in kindergarten and everyone at school was talking about what they got from St. Nick, Cindy called me in a panic and said “who the hell is St. Nick?
I still celebrate St Nick with my kids, and now granddaughter! Of course, I do my deliveries the night before, but I tell them not to open until the morning!
We love St. Nick, too. On Delmar, we put plates under our beds. I eventually used stockings for my kids after a couple years with plates.
I've done stockings for my grandchildren in Wilmington but have slacked in recent years. Sarah does a stocking for Sammy now.
Yes, I remember the "paper mache" red boots. St. Nicholas was much more "old world" than the American Santa Claus, with children asking Santa to bring them bikes, dolls, and wagons for Christmas. People forget just how precious a fresh tangerine was in winter, along with some gold-foil-wrapped chocolate coins, which might have been borrowed from the Jewish Hanukkah "gelt" or gift of chocolate coins or real money. Hanukkah, the festival of lights, begins this year on December 7th and continues to December 15th. That's my idea of a holiday season. Take the week off and eat chocolate and tangerines.
I remember the stockings, too, but most of the time didn’t do it with our own children. We have had fireplaces, and the stockings have always been used on Christmas. But a few times we put out shoes, which I think is maybe Scandinavian?
Something that I remember from childhood, although a bit vaguely, is that during the time from Dec. 25 until the arrival of the Three Kings on the Epiphany, each day we would inch the king figurines around the side of the scene until their arrival time in front.
Remember to light your purple Advent candle this week!
