The Christmas Pickle Tradition

When one marries into a new family it is expected that there will be certain family-specific traditions that are new and unusual, however I was more than a little surprised and amused to find that a pickle plays a central role in my in-laws Christmas traditions.

It was Christmas morning and the entire family was sitting around the tree, opening presents, drinking coffee, and in general having a lovely morning. Suddenly my husband's Aunt squealed like a little girl, and launched from her seat on the couch. Christmas wrapping went flying as she hurried over to the tree with a giant grin on her face.

The room went quiet with anticipation, and not knowing that this was part of their Christmas tradition, I sat stunned into silence. Had she seen a mouse? No - a Christmas pickle.

Yes, that's right, a Christmas pickle. Every year, as part of the Christmas tradition in this house, someone hides a pickle in the Christmas tree. With a satisfied smile and little giggle she pulled the pickle from the tree and held it up for all to see. The room exploded in applause and a secret, extra Christmas present was produced for the finder of the Christmas pickle.

Now, I've done some research on this Christmas pickle business, because it just seems too strange a tradition to me. What I found is that this purportedly German tradition actually dates back to the nineteenth century. The story goes that some poor German American fellow who found himself in prison after the Civil War was starving one Christmas night and begged the guard to help him. The guard scrounged up a pickle for him, which gave him the strength and the will to carry on. Ah, the magic of a pickled cucumber.

Later, this lucky young man who was saved by a pickle (his name varies depending on accounts) wrote to his family back home in Bavaria. Where? Bavaria - the southernmost state of German. He told them how the pickle had saved his life that Christmas night, and it quickly became a tradition. Originally the finder of the pickle was said to be blessed with a happy and prosperous year to come, but as the years went by and we all got a lot more commercial with our Christmas traditions, the pickle sleuth in each family was given an extra gift. Ah, commercialism.

So that's the official story, but you'll be hard pressed to find a German who knows it. Apparently Germans will hang all kinds of fruits and candies on their Christmas trees, but not pickles. So there is some debate as to whether this truly is a German Christmas tradition brought to the US, or vice versa.

It all gets very confusing. Let's sum it up: A German man, in an American prison, is saved by a pickle on Christmas. He writes his family back home in Germany to tell them of the pickle and they begin the tradition of hiding the pickle in the tree to celebrate his survival. The tradition never catches on in Germany, but somehow makes it's way back to the United States as a rather comical Christmas tradition which no one call really explain, but which everyone enjoys.

Looking at the facts, I think it's fairly clear that this Christmas tradition originated here in the States. It was here, after all, that the life-saving pickle was given in the first place. The Germans apparently didn't much care for the tradition, and where they left off we have picked up the Christmas pickle tradition and carried it forward.

I say long live the Christmas pickle! If the German's don't want it that's their loss. As for me, I'll have my eyes open this year. That pickle is mine!