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STOCKINGS
Depending on the country, they can be called Christmas stockings or Christmas socks. But regardless of the name, the idea is the same. They hang over the fireplace (or on the tree in warmer climes), and each one has the name of the person whose gifts it contains. The first written record of Christmas stockings goes back to 1809, when Washington Irving mentions them in the Knickerbocker History of New York , according to The Great American Christmas Almanac.
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Early in the 19th Century, stockings were the preferred repository for presents. But less than 100 years later, the Christmas tree began to edge out the stockings as the favorite place for storing presents. For some time, Americans couldn't agree on which one was best, so they adopted both traditions.
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