"The Christmas pickle is not really a pickle at all. It is a pickle-shaped ornament that is the last one hung on the tree on Christmas Eve. The first child to find the Christmas pickle gets an extra gift from Saint Nicholas. Or so the so-called legend goes.
There are two other versions of the origins of the Christmas pickle. One is a family story of a Bavarian-born ancestor who fought in the American Civil War. A prisoner in poor health and starving, he begged a guard for just one pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and found a pickle for him. The pickle by the grace of God gave him the mental and physical strength to live on.
The other, perpetuated in Berrien Springs, MI, is a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the innkeeper, a mean and evil man, stuffed the boys into a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, became aware of the boys' plight, tapped the pickle barrel with his staff, and the boys were magically freed.
Berrien Springs calls itself the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World. They celebrate with an annual Christmas Pickle Festival held during the early part of December. A parade, led by the Grand Dillmeister who passes out fresh pickles along the parade route, is the featured event. You may even purchase the German glass pickle ornaments at the town’s museum.
Rumor and speculation place the origin of this tradition in Germany. However, few in modern-day Germany recognize or have even heard of the Christmas pickle. Some in West Germany blame generations of East Germans who may have had nothing more than pickles to decorate their Christmas trees with after World War II. But even families and historians in East Germany shrug at the mention of the Christmas pickle tradition."
My very own Christmas pickle! I hung it on the tree before Christmas Eve but I figured since I didn't have kids I could get away with it. I don't want Boone sticking his nose anywhere around the inside of my tree. Who knows what kind of mess he would make!
Do any of you out there have a pickle hanging in your tree?
6 comments:
We have a Christmas pickle!
We have one and Henry hung it right out front ... oh well. Maybe next year!
Yeah, mine is out front too. Truthfully I didn't even know the story when I got ours, I was just out with a friend and thought "what a strange and random ornament" and we both decided to get one and think of each other when we placed it on our trees.
My Grandma & Grandpa Rudolph always had a pickle in their tree - and they are both 100% German.. always told me it was an old German tradition, so some Germans actually do take credit for the tradition...
And I do have a pickle, for that reason :)
WAH! Only Germans would have a Christmas Pickle Tradition.. I love it!
PS: How does Santa prepare for the "extra gift" is it genaric enough that any kid would like it?
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