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We love finding out why people give the gifts they do, so we dig into where those gifts and traditions come from. At the end of each story, we suggest a few we'd pick ourselves.

A child's leather shoe on a stone hearth by a white fireplace, filled with an orange, a chocolate letter S, speculaas cookies, and nuts

St. Nicholas Day

In the Netherlands, children set a shoe by the fireplace on the night of December 5, and in the morning they find it filled.

The gift is small and it comes overnight: an orange, a few spiced cookies, a chocolate letter.

A plain gold claddagh ring on blush silk with a rose ribbon, petals, and sage leaves

The Claddagh Ring

Two hands hold a heart, and the heart wears a crown.

The hands are friendship, the heart is love, and the crown is loyalty.