Today is St. Nicholas Day

According to German tradition, today is St. Nicholas day, and the tradition goes like this. On December 5th, before the children go to bed, they put out their slippers for St. Nicholas.

When the children wake up on the next morning and if they were well behaved children, he would leave them a gift. Back in the old days, way before my time., the gift was usually oranges and nuts as people were poor and those things were hard to come by. They were very special treats. In more modern times the gifts got bigger and bigger.

Oh but if they were bad children, they would find coal in their slippers and St. Nicholas might give them a beating with his bundle of twigs.

Photo from Radio Bremen

So, from our house to yours. Happy St. Nicholas day. May your slippers be filled with oranges and nuts and no coal in sight!

Aloha Hui Hou!