The most famous story about St. Nicholas tells of a poor man who did not have enough money for a dowry for his three daughters. A dowry was a sum of money paid on marriage; without it the daughters could not get married. St Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the chimney of the home. The oldest daughter was then able to marry. When this was repeated for the second daughter, the father hid by the fire to see who was giving the gift and saw Nicholas. Soon the story got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas. In this picture Santa is helping to collect money for charity.