The World's Biggest Christmas Stocking

The Guinness Record for the world's biggest Christmas stocking has been a competitive race between many countries. Usually these giant Christmas stockings are set by charity organizations on behalf of the less fortunate as a publicity stunt to earn money. In the past decade or so there the record has been broken by three separate nations by three different non-governmental organisations. After the enormous stockings are sewn together they are filled with toys and treats that are donated for charity. The stocking is then raised in a ceremony that is usually accompanied by a formal celebration that includes a party and a press release. Then the Guinness Society formally measures the massive sock to make sure it really does break the record. If everything checks out, the monumental Christmas decoration is officially declared the biggest in the world. Breaking the record for the world's largest Christmas stocking is a special occasion that can raise thousands and thousands of dollars for a good cause. Now they just have to find a giant foot that is large enough to wear them.

Third Place - Toronto, Canada

On 8 November, 2007 the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, with a little help from Lowe's, unveiled a Christmas stocking that was 27.46 metres (90 feet 1 inch) long and 11.3 metres (37 feet 1 inch) wide from heel to toe. Made completely out of traditional Christmas stocking material, it shattered the former record of 19.25 metres (63 feet 2 inches) long and 8.23 metres (27 feet) wide from heel to toe, which was set by the Metro Centre in Gateshead, UK. The stocking was stuffed full of normally sized toys that were donated to the Salvation Army. In the end the Christmas of over 12,000 Canadian children was made much brighter by the donated gifts. Plus each person that gave a present to the event received a free ticket to see White Christmas at the theatre, a voucher worth $250 at Sony and they got to have their photo taken by the World's Biggest Stocking.

Second Place - London, England

Not one to be outdone so easily, the United Kingdom reclaimed the title of World's Biggest Stocking just two months later in December. The Children's Society, based in London, commissioned a Christmas stocking that was 32.56 metres (108 feet 8 inches) long by 14.97 metres (49 feet 1 inch) from heel to toe, smashing the recent record in Canada.  Children's Society supporters knitted thousands of red squares for the charity, and they were sewn together in St Mary Magdalene, a church in Munster Square. The resulting stocking weighed as much as five reindeer and was as long as three double decker buses. The ceremony that was held on December 14, 2007 raised £14,000 and over 1,000 Christmas gifts for under privileged children. None of it could have been possible without help from the American InterContinental University, London College of Fashion, the ExCel, London, British Felt Ltd and Fairway PSD Ltd. The children of Fosters Primary School dressed up as elves for the occasion.

First Place - Tuscany, Italy

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, they World's Biggest Stocking is 51.35 metres (168 feet 6 inches) in long and 21.63 metres (71 feet) wide from heel to toe. It was made by a volunteer emergency services organization in Tuscany, Italy called Pubblica Assistenza Carrara e Sezioni. One of the group's chief functions is helping senior citizens, and the event was organized to raise money and awareness for this purpose. The record was officially set on 5 January, 2011. But in Italy the Christmas celebration traditionally stretches into January. They held a formal ceremony and a big party for the public in the city of Carrara, which is located in the historic region known as Tuscany. Since the elderly do not usually play with toys, the mammoth stocking was filled with balloons that were stuffed with sweets.