FineLine Antiques

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

We all know this Christmas Poem. Many of us may know it completely by heart. Others may be able to recite portions of the poem. Surely we all know the first two sections like we know our own names!

This poem has been long-attributed to Clement Moore. However, it was originally published anonymously. The mental picture evoked by the first two parts of this poem are likely quite vivid for most of us. Whoever wrote the poem definitely had a way with words.

I look forward to many things at Christmas, the tree, the warmth, the baked goods, the family gathering, Santa (I really love Santa!) and the framing of a glorious roaring fire with warm and beautiful stockings.

As a child I really looked forward to the stockings. See, my grandmother made a personalized stocking for each member of the family. My mom’s stocking was light blue felt and shaped like a fancy high-heeled boot with a plush rabbit fur cuff at the top. Mine was light pink felt and was sewn together with dark pink yarn. Each stocking was special in that there were trinkets sewn on to each on to represent each person. I loved my stocking….it had a tiny baby doll sewn on to it, a patch shaped like alphabet building blocks, a gold metal heart charm and felt applied balloons.

When I was finally old enough to have my own family and start our own family traditions the old family stockings were a little worse for the wear so we could not really use them. As a result, I tried my hand at making my own family stockings. I did not inherit my grandmother’s gift with the needle!

So, as of now we have a mish-mash of felt, and satin and needlepoint (not family heirloom quality) stockings in over sized shapes and sizes. They are nice enough stockings, but they are not perfect. They don’t hold a candle to the enchanting stockings of my youth.

So I was looking around for some new unique, personal and special stockings to perhaps start our family tradition. You should see some of the wonderful ones I have found…the run the gamut from fancy to whimsical to downright odd. If you want to purchase one, you can click on the photo and it will take you to the sellers website.

Please stop by our shop for many wonderful vintage gift items as well as vintage Christmas decorations and items.