The Stockings Are Hung By the Night Light with Care

The story behind Christmas stockings begins with a poor man who had three daughters. In the Good Old Days, a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value as a dowry. Without no dowry, this poor man's daughters were destined to become spinsters.

One night after the daughters had washed out their clothing, they hung their stockings over the fireplace to dry. That night Saint Nicholas, knowing the despair of the father, stopped by the man's house after the family had gone to bed. He peeked in the window and saw the daughters' stockings hanging by the fire.

Saint Nicholas was inspired. He took three small bags of gold from his pouch and threw them carefully, one by one, into the stockings -- just as I'm sure you or I would have done, if we were rich saints. The next morning when the daughters awoke, they found their stockings contained enough gold for them to get married.

This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. Sometimes lumps of coal figure into the story too, but let's not go there.

Three little stockings dangle from the black glass mantle of our Switchables stained glass night light. The logs and fire are painted on. The holly berry is faceted like a little gem.

Please note that this is a stained glass lens, which is designed to be used with the Switchables Nightlight Fixture (sold separately). This is not a self-contained night light. You could also use Switchables as a suncatcher, a Christmas ornament, or with any other kind of light source. To display your lens in a window, add the optional suction cup.