Ya'll have probably heard the cute little story around the Christmas pickle ornament before or even experienced it in your own home as a young child and adult. Hey, just the idea that you might get an extra little gift if you are the one to find the hidden ornament in the tree is exciting no matter how old you are.
As some of you who know me well are aware, I like to do my research before I post anything on my blog or on facebook. I decided to look up the "old German tradition" of the Christmas pickle to see what I could find.
Now I became suspicious that something might be amiss when I read that the pickle was the last ornament placed and hidden on the tree before St. Nicholas came. "Strange" I thought, "St. Nicholas comes on Dec. 6th and most Germans certainly don't have their trees up that early." Ding a ling... the suspicion bell in my head went off.
As a younger Canadian ex-pat adult, I lived in Germany for ten years and I never remember seeing a pickle on a Christmas tree. Consequently I assumed (yes, yes) when I heard about it on this side of the pond that I had missed something. Well much to my surprise, I have discovered that this is NOT an old German tradition after all but something, it appears, may have been thought up by American marketers many moons ago and is a myth that has made the rounds Christmas after Christmas!
Well that did it for my short little blurb I was going to post today about the old German tradition of the Christmas pickle! Hmmm I wonder what Snopes has to say about it??
If you are interested in finding out more about this myth and how it came about, here is an excellent article
The big guy is coming down the chimney pretty soon now! Merry Christmas everyone,
Sharon...