Christmastime means hanging up your stockings at night, waiting anxiously for hours with anticipation and sleeping late at night only to wake up late on Christmas morning to find them filled to the brim with small gifts and goodies.

Christmas stockings have been a holiday tradition for at least 200 years. Stockings are mentioned twice in that holiday classic “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (also known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”) published anonymously by Clement Clarke Moore in 1823.

‘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;

Many families create their own Christmas stockings with each family member’s name applied to the stocking so that Santa will know which stocking belongs to which family member. Check out these 28 interesting vintage photographs that capture children hanging stockings at Christmas Eve from the past.