Oranges in our Stockings

I was reading a blog tonight where the author was asking her readers to share what Christmas traditions they do every year.  She mentioned that her family's tradition (passed down from her own family's tradition) was to roll the orange they got in their stockings around on the floor and give it a few good squeezes before breaking the hook off the candy cane, inserting the bottom part of the candy cane in the orange, and then drinking the juice out of it.  I thought, "Really?  That's what we did at our house!"  I always thought that we were the only ones that got oranges in our stockings...that Santa was trying to add something "healthy" to go along with all the chocolate and candy.  I've never been a fan of oranges (can tolerate clementines every now and then), but Santa always left me one. :-) 

After searching online, I realized that getting oranges in stockings is quite popular!  According to several websites, the main reason is that St. Nicholas (before he became St. Nicholas) did work for a poor man who didn't have enough money (dowry) for his three daughters to get married.  One night, St. Nicholas put a bag of gold in each of the three girls' "socks" hung by the fire so the girls could get married.  Somehow, the orange is to represent the bag of gold or "fruit" of gold.  Another website mentioned that in the late 1800's, oranges had the ability at that time to be shipped to several places in the U.S.  Getting a fresh orange during the winter was a special treat!  Who knows what the true reason is, but I've learned tonight that Santa didn't deliver oranges to just our stockings!

I did call my parents to ask if they knew the meaning behind it, and they said that my grandmother (maternal) always did it and so they continued the tradition.

I would LOVE to hear what some of your Christmas traditions are (and also if you got oranges in your stockings!), so please share by replying to this post (click on the "comments" link at the bottom of this post).  A couple more traditions my family celebrated when I was growing up:

- My parents would read us "The Night Before Christmas" book by Clement C. Moore every Christmas Eve before we went to bed.

- On Christmas Eve, we would attend (or participate in) the late candlelight service at church, usually the 11:00 one when we got to be a little older (junior high and high school age).  We went to an earlier service when we were younger.

- When celebrating Christmas with my extended family, and after the number of cousins grew, we would act out a Christmas pageant while one of my uncles read the Christmas story from the Bible.  My creative aunts made animal costumes out of paper bags and angel wings out of pipe cleaners.  Robes and sheets were worn for Mary and Joseph.  I'll have to look for some pictures to post.