Of all the shopping sites ebay offers the widest selection and best deals on vintage Christmas stockings:

Everyone is familiar with the Christmas Story, but not everyone knows about the jolly story behind old fashion antique Christmas Stockings.  Why do we hang stockings by the fireside on Christmas Eve?  It’s a rather long story, but the short of it is that Jolly Old Saint Nicholas decided to leave his first Christmas gifts to three impoverished girls who needed some money for the wedding dowry.  He left a few gold coins in each of their stockings which had been left by the fire to dry.  We imagine there were no dry eyes the morning after, and tears of joy must have been wept at such an uncalled-for blessing.

Borne from a tradition which spread from Holland to Hungary and from France to Italy, children today still hang their stockings in the hope that Santa Claus would drop by with something special for them come Christmas Eve.  He’s a special kind of guy, rather shy and keeps to himself, but he almost always makes it on time, thanks to those who keep the tradition going.  No amount of staying up and spying seems to catch him off-guard on his trip down the chimney.  The magic of believing that, yes, there is a Santa Claus is a spell that can hardly be broken.  They are the most magical years of your childhood, and you never outgrow the joy and wonder even when it’s your turn to fill up someone else’s Christmas stockings.

And what goodies would little boys and girls find in those antique Christmas stockings?  In the olden days, it was traditional to find small items such as fruits, nuts, and candy in every stocking.  An orange placed in the toe of a Christmas stocking symbolized the gold coins which Saint Nicholas gifted the girls with.  If your stocking contained an apple in its toe and an orange in its heel, then it meant that you had been good.  Naughty or nice, everyone receives something in their Christmas stockings from the simplest to the most expensive of gifts.

Since the pattern of tradition which led to the hanging of Christmas tree stocking has now been established, it’s time to look into the patterns which go into the fine workmanship of vintage holiday stockings.  The most homemade and personalized ones were individually hand-knitted, and the knit patterns were strong enough to carry some candy cane sweets from their hangings.  Others were hand-embroidered with needlepoint to showcase elaborate cross stitch and antique quilted designs.  The old Victorian quilt used quality fabric and rich colors to portray Christmas trees and angels, while those made out of old-time favorites like gingham cloth featured country scenes such as a farmhouse or pottery barn.  Made out of felt and wool, the most classic of all vintage stockings were stitched with buttons, ribbons and lace.  You could casually hang them from the fireside at an angle using a matching ribbon loop and wait for them to be magically filled with goodies.

Today, it is possible to buy Christmas stockings online.  You can buy them in the traditional cut of a classic Christmas stocking, but there are also curly-toed varieties to tickle your impish hearts.  Velvet and felt stockings are still two of the all-time favorites, because they have a certain feel to them.  The softness and warmth of their material remind you of good times.  Velvet has a classier and more modern look, while felt has a more rustic and country appeal to it, but both make great cloth materials for any kind of patterns.  They may include an appliqué frame wherein you can insert a computer-printed photo, a decorative fabric, or just your name glued with glitter.  Monogrammed Christmas stockings deviate from the glue-and-glitter way, and they feature your initials in a clean finish with a more sophisticated look.  When your stockings are monogrammed, they become more personalized in their holiday feel.

Among all the patterns which adorn Vintage Christmas Stockings, those with Santa and reindeer patterns are still the most well loved of all.  They are part of what’s customary about Christmas stockings, and they speak of a happy European tale which led to this very Western tradition.  Better than leaving your bulky shoes and wooden sabots out to dry and be filled with a bounty of treasures the following day, here is a much lighter way of welcoming the season with some retro holiday cheer for so many years to come.