St Nicholas

St. Nicholas Day Traditions

eMail us your tradition to post online: stnick@stnicksday.com

Just for fun, we decided to keep track of where the St. Nick Bags are being shipped. What we thought was exclusively a Wisconsin tradition appears to be spreading!

 

Start a St. Nick tradition in your household using St. Nick Bags!

 

1. Wisconsin
2. Texas
3. Illinois
4. Ohio
5. Michigan
6. Minnesota
7. Georgia
8. Missouri
9. Indiana
10. Virginia
11. New Jersey
12. Arizona
13. New York
14. Vermont
15. California
16. Florida
17. Nebraska
18. Kentucky
19. New Hampshire
20. Washington
21. Arizona
22. Arkansas
23. Pennsylvania
24. North Carolina
25. Iowa
26. Connecticut
27. Alabama

Do you celebrate St. Nick's Day?

We would like to hear from you! Let us know how you celebrate and we will post it here on a future date.

Click here to see how others celebrate St. Nick's Day

eMail us at:

StNick@stnicksday.com

Sami, a lonely South Dakota St Nick-er

Amber, Alabama

I grew up with St. Nick and now I celebrate it with my son. I took German in middle and high school and learned more about the very old tradition and felt very special that I celebrated something many other children did not. Our stockings are usually filled with candy, nuts, small toys or fancy coffees and chocolates for the adults - on the rare occasion when such extravagant things aren't warranted, we often stuff stockings with much needed things like new underwear, mittens or a new hat.

Chrystal in Slinger, WI

I have never heard of St. Nick Day until my newly married daughter called me and told me of the small gifts she received from her in-laws. This is not a tradition anyone I know has ever celebrated. Not to be a scrooge, but it seems to me just another way to put money in the retailer’s pockets. Our big day is Christmas. I wish everyone one a Merry Christmas.

Dianne

I wanted to thank you for sending my order so quickly.  I rec’d the bags today!  And was very pleased.  You can bet I will continue to spread the word.  Thanks again!

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

My mother is 88 years old and now in a nursing home recalling only my father, but her stories of St. Nicholas Day in her house are among the few that she'd recall annually. They had little else, but she always knew she'd find an orange in the toe of her stocking every December 6 morning.

I fondly recall St. Nicholas Days of my youth when I pull out the holiday decorations each year. Many of the little gifts I found in my stocking became keep sakes with which I now decorate - a little angle tree topper, an ornament that had been full of bubble bath, and little glass bottles in shapes of gifts, Santa, and snowmen.

Each of the years when she remembered him and still did some shopping on her own, my mother bought my son the biggest, fluffiest stocking she could find him. I hang fancy stockings from the mantel that match my décor, but those fluffy stockings are prominently hung each year, too. St. Nicholas puts a toothbrush with the candy in those stockings hung from the mantel; I get a small nut cracker to add to my collection and my son a train car to add to his. Those other stockings, though, those other stockings still bring the biggest smiles. Each holds a little gift - a NASCAR collectible, a new key chain, a magic trick, a deck of cards - the things that would get tossed aside for the "big stuff" under the tree on Christmas morning are so special on St. Nicholas Day. They remind us of the stories.

My son is a teenager now. He knows I fill the stockings. He knows why I fill the stockings. He'll fill stockings for his kids, too.

I have trouble every year recalling the day that is St. Nicholas Day. I pick a different site to read each year I go to the Internet to check. Thank you for your site and your bags.

Louisville, Kentucky

Jennifer Klein Tucson, Az (Previously from Eagle River, Wi)

Hi! I happened across your site and upon reading your home page description, felt a little left out, as St. Nick’s Day is fairly common in the St. Louis area. I even double checked this on Wikipedia:

 

Celebration in the United States:

 

While feasts of Saint Nicholas are not observed nationally, cities with strong German influences like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis celebrate St. Nick's Day on a scale similar to the German custom.[4] On the previous night, children put one empty shoe (or sock) outside, and, on the following morning of December 6, the children awake to find that St. Nick has filled their previously empty footwear with candy and small presents (if the children have been "good") or coal (if not). For these children, the relationship between St. Nick and Santa Claus is not clearly defined, although St. Nick is usually explained to be a helper of Santa. The tradition of St. Nick's Day is firmly established in the Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland and St. Louis communities, with parents often continuing to observe the day with even their adult children. Widespread adoption of observing the tradition has spread throughout the German, Polish, Belgian and Dutch communities throughout Wisconsin, and is carried out through modern times.

 

At least half the kids I grew up with in my classes celebrated the tradition. My family did not, but in elementary school I felt left out, so when I moved out, I started the tradition with my boyfriend. That was 6 years ago. We now have a beautiful baby girl and will be sure to carry on the tradition. =) Your bags are a very cool idea, although I feel like the shoe thing is like a Christmas tree- it wouldn’t be complete without it. (I usually don’t put candy in the shoes – any food items are placed next to the shoes.)

 

Thanks! Becky =) - St. Louis area.

---

I was born and raised here in the U.S., and I had never heard of St. Nick's Day until last week. I don't know how this happened, but I looked into it and it was such a blessing to learn about a custom that has been in affect overseas for so many years. I am engaged to a Romanian lady and she told me about it, and was shocked that I had never heard of it. So we are starting the tradition in our own home. (although she doesn't know it yet.) She will be here in the States for Christmas this year, and I will have her bag on the doorknob, filled with goodies when she awakes on the morning of the 6th. She arrives on the 5th, so it will have special meaning for her when she feels her tradition in her new home in the States. Thank You for providing so much information on this tradition and I will pass it on to all of my friends.

 

Dan T. - Arkansas

---

As a little kid growing up in Wisconsin, my Polish family always celebrated St. Nicholas Day. I think each generation it gets altered a bit... as a child, we left our shoes outside our door at bedtime, and we each got a package of new socks with some little candy. Now with my children (who are quite young yet at 1 and 3 yrs old), they each receive a new Christmas book outside their door on St. Nicholas morning.

 

Jessica - Peoria, IL

---

This is a great idea. I come from a German family and have been celebrating St. Nick day for years. ( I am now 36) . I have three boys (11, 8 & 4) and have started the tradition with them. When my oldest began Catholic school and started doing reports on saints.... his first one was on Saint Nick because of our tradition. Only we don't do candy in our house and the tradition became that St. Nick left the Christmas PJ's you would wear to bed for Christmas Day. The kids look forward to what St Nick finds for them and gives them something else to look forward to on Christmas Eve.

 

Most people think we are nuts for a holiday they aren't sure of yet. The more awareness the better the holiday. Thanks for creating something so fun.

 

Mindy - NJ

---

Dear Sirs;

I wanted to thank you for the fast service. I received my St. Nicks bag today. It will be a very nice gift. I hope you will be able to add Arkansas to your list of states as the knowledge grows about St. Nick's Day. I have been telling all of my friends about it.

Happy Holidays to You and Yours':

 

Hatchie Mann - Arkansas

 

---

I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. My Mother used to give my sister and I a stocking filled with candy, fruit and nuts every year on St. Nick's Day. She told us if we got coal we still had time to get our acts together for a good Christmas, but we never got coal:-). She continued to send us St. Nick's Day stockings into our adult life until she passed away. I had my first baby in January of 2009 and look forward to giving him his first stocking and keeping the tradition alive in our family!

 

Mike Krueger - Redding, California

---

Because I’m a pastor, I’ve always been extremely busy @ Christmastime with church activities. I felt like my children were missing out on a Family Holiday. I was also concerned that “Santa” was eclipsing Jesus on the feast of Christ’s birth. We began celebrating St. Nick’s Day when the kids were young, as one way to give them special family time. It also helped to have Santa come on the 6th, and have the 25th be for Jesus.

 

Andrew -- Vancouver, WA

---

My grandmother was from Austria, and raised my father with St Nick's Day, when we were growing up we also celebrated it, When we woke up, we'd run to our stockings and find nuts, fruits, chocolates and socks and gloves...if we were really good we'd get a piece of jewelry also. This year is my daughter's first St Nick's Day and we will be getting her a Christmas ornament and a spoon, she's too young for candy and fruit :)

 

LaCrisha from Meridian, Mississippi

---

I love this tradition. It holds so much magic for children and my own mother did it for us growing up on suburban Chicago growing up. I

continued this tradition and now my 3 children celebrate it as well. They get very excited and are usually rewarded with a small amt of candy and perhaps a book for the older one or some stickers, a small puzzle or something like that. One thing I always put there is a new Christmas story to read to my kids. I actually do have my kids put their shoes outside as well (always a pair they are not wearing the next day.).

 

I was surprised when people I talked to had not heard of this tradition. They probably thought "she's crazy about Christmas " which I am. I am the Mom at 1 am on Christmas who drags out the jingle bells and runs around on the front lawn so it sounds like Santa's sleigh. Hey, my dad did it for me and the one time my son said to me " hey mom I thought I heard Santa's sleigh bells " was all I needed to hear. There isn't much magic left in this world about things, Christmas is about believing in something you can't see but FEEL in your heart.

 

Kristen (from St. Louis) 

---

Since I was 5 years old I have lived in Wisconsin. I grew up in Sheboygan WI and grew up with the tradition and I am carrying it on with my children. We only do a little for this day but enough to keep the tradition. I listened to people and so many do not understand why or anything about the tradition. Thank you for the explanation as I am able to explain everything to my daughters and hope that they will continue the tradition as they grow and have children.

 

Dawn - Green Bay WI.

---

As a kid, I grew up with the St. Nick’s Day tradition. Instead of using our shoes though, we would find St. Nick left us a small gift at our place at the dining room table. It would be anything from candy to an inexpensive movie. Just something small to let us know we have been good and to look forward to the presents from Santa. Now that I am grown, though I do not have kids of my own yet, I have continued the tradition each year with my husband and usually my dog. Just to get my husband ready for those family traditions when we have kids. It is a great tradition and most that I have spoke to have no idea what it is. I guess my family had the tradition because my mom lived in Wisconsin for some time and our family tree goes back to Germany on several sides of the family.

 

Becky Knepp

---

I grew up on a farm in NE Iowa in a large Catholic family (11 children). We were German/French descendants. Instead of stockings or shoes we set out bread loaf pans all in a row with our name on a slip of paper inside. We didn't have much back then and this was a special treat for us. We were given fruits and nuts, a little candy and small gifts like pencils, pens, coloring books or crayons.

 

When I married and moved to central Iowa, I started the tradition with my husband and children. We have 6 kids and now 4 grandchildren. We wait until early evening on the 6th and St. Nick will knock on the door and leave a box on the porch with everything inside. We did this as we have a child with a birthday on the 5th and didn't want to take away from that. Thru the years we expanded the tradition to include friends with small children. I would print out a story of St. Nick and have it in the box to explain what the box of fruit, nuts, and small gifts were for. Then my husband would set it by their front door, knock and run. This was so much fun for us to surprise them and have them wondering where it came from. We still hold the tradition and my children are passing it on to their children now.

 

Brenda from Iowa

---

I grew up in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We are of German & Norwegian descent. We have ten kids in our family and St. Nick's day was always celebrated! We loved it. We would set our shoes out at night and in the morning they would be filled with candy. It meant the start of the Holiday season and we always looked forward to it.

 

Helen - Oshkosh, WI

---

I grew up in Des Plaines, IL. I have always celebrated St Nicholas Day. We used to put our boots outside. Once my Mother collected a complete Christmas plate set she started setting the formal dining table with that set on Dec 5th, the formal table remained set throughout the entire holiday season. On the morning of the 6th we would find a couple of the Christmas cookies that we made including the Specula's, one orange, nuts in their shells and a few pieces of holiday hard candy. Each of us had our own place at the table and that is where our plate was set. After a few years my Mother started giving us Christmas ornaments instead of candies so that when we left the family home we would have ornaments for our very first tree. Each of us 4 children continue the tradition, I do not have children so I share it with coworkers and friends as well as my family, nieces and nephews. My Mother said when she grew up, Dec 6th is when they shared presents and had the huge meal, much like our Thanksgiving and on Dec 25th they went to church and enjoyed a small meal.

 

Marina - Arizona

---

Glad to find your site and someone spreading the tradition of remembering St. Nicholas. We are a Catholic family and our previous pastor was a big fan of St. Nicholas. Every year on the Sunday before Dec 6, he would remind the children of the parish to put out their shoes (and their parent to fill them!!) and hand out candy canes.

 

As a result, we started following this tradition in our own home. To make it different from Christmas, we use St. Nicholas day as a tool to learn about the saints. Every year the kids receive candy canes and gold foil wrapped chocolate coins in memory of the gifts of dowries that Bishop Nicholas gave to the 3 sisters.

 

We also use it as a kind of "kick off" to advent - the children have received prayer books, nativity sets, and saint biographies in the past. Some years they receive craft supplies to use to make Christmas gifts - like ornaments or candy treats.

 

St Nicholas gifts aren't meant to compete with Christmas, they are just another small pleasure of the season and a way to add spirituality to the season!

 

This year St Nicholas day is even more special to us as our newest child was born on Thanksgiving day and was baptized after mass on St Nicholas day. Now we have even more reason to celebrate in years to come!

 

Happy St Nicholas Feast day!!!

 

Ken

---

My mother comes from a large German Catholic family, she is 1 of 12 and they always celebrated St. Nicholas Day. So when she had children she passed it on to us. We would hang our stockings before bed on the Fifth of December and when we awoke there would always be an assortment of goodies in there. There would always be an Orange in the toe of the stocking, followed by some kind of little candies, usually chocolate or mints, and a little puzzle either a jig saw puzzle or a brain teaser. Something that you would have to think about while working on, and on the Mantle above our stocking there was always a “Life Savors Candy Book” with 10 rolls of assorted flavors of live savors in it. Looking back I know that my Parents didn’t spend a lot of money on these gifts, and some of the brain teasers were home made, but each year it made us feel special and let us know that we had been good enough for Santa to make the big drop come Christmas Eve. Thanks you for spreading the word and letting others know about this little known holiday.

 

-Gina, in Ohio

 

 

[Home Page]