U.S. #5645
2021 58¢ A Visit From St. Nick – Santa Claus in Fireplace
Issue Date: October 7, 2021
First Day City: Santa Claus, IN
Type of Stamp: Definitive
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Double-sided Booklet of 20
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 400,000,000
In Clement Clark Moore's famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Moore talked about several holiday traditions that still exist today. For example, he says "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there..." In 2021, the United States Postal Service illustrated this particular line on one of four new A Visit From St. Nick stamps.
Today, almost everyone who celebrates Christmas hangs stockings. There's one for each member of the family – sometimes even for pets! They might be richly decorated store-bought stockings, handmade family heirlooms, or even actual socks belonging to each person. It all depends on that family's specific traditions.
As for what St. Nicholas leaves in the stockings, this varies from family to family, too. However, they're usually all small items (big gifts are wrapped up and placed under the Christmas tree). One of the most traditional stocking stuffers are whole oranges. Their golden-orange color is said to represent the gold coins gifted to a poor family by the original St. Nicholas all those centuries ago.
No matter your family's traditions, one of the most fun parts of Christmas morning is looking inside your stocking to see what St. Nicholas brought.