QOTD

[redbird]

It has been brought to our attention that we've come to take certain oddities for granted. To wit: we've been so bombarded by the Santa Claus story and the stockings hung on the chimney with care, that we've only recently stopped to wonder how in the world people started hanging socks on their walls. —from the Powell's Books newsletter

Comments

[lynnal.livejournal.com]

Very recently indeed. I grew up in a house with hot water radiators, and we always put our wet socks and mittens on the radiator to dry. If you have a fireplace that you use, that would be the obvious place to hang your socks to dry. I suppose a lot of people now have grown up in new buildings that don't have fireplaces or radiators and so don't quite follow the concept. Still, I hang stockings up to dry in the bathroom. You'd think that the basic idea isn't all that hard.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I wore thick cotton socks to work this morning. You know, the morning we had that lovely deep mix of snow and ice water outside. Hanging socks over a fireplace sounds like a *wonderful* idea.