The German Christmas Pickle Myth
A few years back when my family was living in San Francisco, I encountered this interesting so-called, “German” tradition The Christmas Pickle. My Mother, on the hunt for some Christmas Tree Ornaments ended up in bizarre store somewhere in downtown San Francisco and came across the so-called “German Christmas Pickle”. Now I can guarantee you that about 0 Germans know what the hell a Christmas pickle is – and I’m quite sure that not even that many Americans can explain to me what this thing is, where it came from and why you would hang it in a tree.
Being the curious type, she asked the salesman (who was busy unpacking a box of very gay christmas mermen – they are quite popular(SFW) ) what the deal is with this “Tradition”.So apparently the tradition is as follows: A Parent hides the Christmas Pickle in the Christmas Tree (the pickle, which due to its green color is relatively hard to spot in the tree) and the rest of the family has to find it. Whoever finds it first gets an extra present. Apparently these Christmas pickles are available in 3 different sizes – to make it more difficult to “spot the pickle” when the children get older.
There are various different legends on how this tradition came about but 100% of them turn up to be BS. Heres an article which does a good job of summarizing the fake origins of this myth – The German Christmas Pickle Tradition:Myth or Reality?
The short summary is that no one knows where this tradition came from, and that no german has ever heard about it – aside from the ones which were quizzed by americans about it.
Either way – the Christmas Pickle (along with a very tasteful merman) made it back to our house and into our Tree. 8 years have since passed and this very German family still competes every Christmas Eve to spot the Christmas Pickle.
It’s funny, all Germans we asked about he pickle said it was an American thing. Even the pickle we were gifted came with some handout from the pickle company about it being an American tradition!
You aren’t wrong there – it is an American thing, but its said the tradition originated from Germany. One the one hand it would make sense, because the tradition of Christmas Tree decorations does stem from Germany (some families still hang nuts and fruits in their tree) – but on the other hand I think there is enough proof out there that this is just an American fantasy. Nevertheless credit where credit is due – the Christmas Pickle seems to have become really popular.