Celebrating Life Over 50 in the Puget Sound Region and Beyond

Our Christmas Stocking Tradition

HOLIDAY MEMORIES

December 1, 2024 at 12:00 a.m.

Louise R. Smith

...by Louise R. Smith

Spokane, Washington, 1917

As the youngest of seven children, and in my pre-school years, I had the privilege of being the only one at home and was designated Santa’s Little Helper (according to my imaginative mother) when she began her Christmas preparations.

Each year Mom purchased yards and yards of red and green tarlatan, a see-through mesh-like fabric from which she fashioned simple stockings for each member of her brood.

Holiday nuts—filberts, pecans, almonds and peanuts—were stuffed into the green sox. The red ones held Mom’s famous caramels, nougat and peanut brittle, all of which needed to be wrapped in pre-cut squares of waxed paper. Each item was then secured in the sox with a homespun draw-string closure, and bearing each family member’s name, hand-written on a small scrap of paper. The stockings were then hidden in a secret hideaway place until Christmas Eve, when Santa Claus put them on the decorated tree.

What was my role in all of this? I stood glued to my mother’s elbow, salivating in my wait for her to cut the to-die-for candies into small pieces so I could snatch the sure-to-follow

crumbs. My job of wrapping each piece with the waxed paper

squares was always a cherished privilege.

I carried on the tradition in part with my twin daughters who were the recipients of unique handmade, red flannel stockings, created by my sister Elizabeth who embroidered their names on each stocking. They were the first treasure my

girls went for on Christmas morning.

Louise Smith’s twin girls Anne and Susie at 3 carrying Christmas packages

As my twins married and increased our family size, I duplicated my sister’s ornate artwork for each son-in-law and my five grandchildren.

When my daughter Ann was blessed with news of her first grandchild, she was frequently found curled up on the window seat, embroidering and handcrafting individual stockings for her son-in-law and baby grandson.

Louise holds her daughter Ann’s handmade Christmas stocking. Ann carried on the family tradition by making a stocking for her baby grandson

Figures of animals are appliquéd onto the front, whereas the Nativity scene of cutout figures adorns the back. Eight small tinkling bells complete the bottom of the stockings. The tops are trimmed with decorative heavy braid, ending in a loop to enable their being hung from a fireplace mantle.

I recall the simple, homespun Christmas stockings I loved during my early childhood. The wonderful memories I have of them will never fade away.

This article is from our archives. Louise Smith was a retired newspaper editor and frequent contributor to Northwest Prime Time. I was utterly charmed by Louise when I met her years ago. I remember thinking to myself that I hoped to become more like her as I grew older. She passed away at 95 & one-half in 2009. To learn more about Louise, I invite you to read a funny, heartfelt tribute by another frequent Northwest Prime Time contributor, former associate editor Suzanne Beyer. Here is the link. Reading it brought a tear and a hearty chuckle: https://www.bothell-reporter.com/opinion/remembering-a-special-friend-louise-r-smith/