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The German pickle ornament. (Or so we thought, see comments!) but this is fun! The history of the pickle is it's the last ornament to be hung on the tree by the parents. Hidden deep in the branches, the first child who finds it, receives an extra surprise from St. Nick. It's really hard to find sometimes.
We hide it and the first child who finds it gets $1. (not from St. Nick) um...humm..
It's pretty funny to watch the 3 kids frantically searching the tree for a buck. I can see Noah been excited about it, but Caleb and Autumn are right in there! This year Autumn found the pickle. I still owe her a dollar. With the cost of living I should up it to $5, nah!
It's pretty funny to watch the 3 kids frantically searching the tree for a buck. I can see Noah been excited about it, but Caleb and Autumn are right in there! This year Autumn found the pickle. I still owe her a dollar. With the cost of living I should up it to $5, nah!
NOTE: The last post has been removed to keep peace of mind for the young ones. :)
12 comments:
Oh, the pickle ... It is funny, but they don't do that at all in Germany - many there have never even heard of it! But a fun tradition, still. :)
Denise, You are right! The tag on the ornament said it was a German tradition...with the whole story printed on it. Ugh! The truth seeking family has been dubbed! Well I found a site that explains the "German myth" of the pickle ornament. It did say maybe it's from a Civil War solider experience that started the pickle. Now that's more fun for us! I have to go back and read more in depth. Here's the link I found if anyone is interested:
http://german.about.com/library/blgermyth11.ht
Many sites do claim it's from German origins. Thanks for pointing this out Denise.
Okay, I hereby nominate you for having the strangest Christmas ornament ever! I have never heard any version of the pickle story and I've never seen one on a tree. That is so funny!
Here's what the German myths 11 site wrote about the Civil war connection to the pickle:
A descendant of a soldier who fought in the American Civil War, John Lower (Hans Lauer?), born in Bavaria in 1842, wrote to tell about a family story that had to do with a Christmas pickle. According to family lore, “John Lower was captured and sent to prison in Andersonville, Georgia. ...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 John Lower. According to family legend, John said that the pickle—by the grace of God—gave him the mental and physical strength to live on. Once he was reunited with his family he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree. The first person who found the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whether or not this is the start of the pickle ornament, Who know?! But I like this one!
My mom is German and growing up we did all sorts of German things around Christmastime, so I was really perplexed the first time I heard about the pickle ornament. I think I was already married the first time I saw it. I wondered if it was a tradition from southern Germany or something (my mom is from a small village way in the north) so I asked my mom and she told me she had never heard of it either.
The real story is strange. What is even more bizarre is the way it grew and morphed into a German tradition. Funny thing, marketing.
WE have that same pickle...hee :)
We are not putting our tree up until next weekend....so i just might have to start taking some shots of our ornaments hanging on the boys' pretend trees.
i love the pickle!!! :)
p.s. be it a real german tradition or just a myth/story...still fun...the whole idea that a pickle is on our christmas tree has me crack up!!!
Okay Anet & Tiff, I just have to say that I indiscriminately LOVE anyone with a pickle on their tree! :)
Hi Tara, I'm as confused as the people of German. They have never heard of the pickle ornament. I do wonder how it became German. ARE dill pickles a German food? hmmm...
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That's great Tiff, I can't wait to see your ornaments. Glad I'm not the only nut with a pickle on their tree!
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Sharon, And everyone who has a pickle on their tree ADORES YOU! :)
Anet, you are making me smile! The only thing that seems sure here is that pickle people have a great time decorating the tree, and that seems like a good enough reason to keep the whole tradition alive, no matter how it started!
I think pickled cucumbers started in the Middle East somewhere. Maybe India or Mesopotamia?
Now I'm getting hungry for a good kosher dill. Mmmm.
We do Christmas spiders. But the preacher today was talking about bizarre Christmas ornaments, including broken unicorns and macaroni-framed pictures, and mentioned the Christmas pickle. Hmm. I have lit=up chile peppers instead.
I also have a natural aversion to pickles as ornaments (love to eat dills), because I spent two summers picking pickles at an Aunt Jane's pickle farm in Ravenna, Mich. No Germans, just Mexican immigrants. Arms pruned up from pickle brine is a terrible thing when you're 16.
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