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Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on December 19, 2013 at 7:02

I'm catching up.  According the card that came with the Pickle bought at a Christkindlesmarkt in Nürnberg: 

The tradition of trying to find the little ornament shaped like a pickle - hidden deep among the green boughs on Christmas Eve - began many years ago in Laschau, Germany. As the story goes, the lucky child who found the ornament on Christmas morning may have received an extra gift from St. Nicholas. If the family could not afford such extras, the pickle finder was rewarded by being the first to open presents. Production of the blown glass Christmas ornament started in 1890s.

 

The pickle ornament also represented the opening of the initial jar of pickles made from the previous pickle harvest. Traditionally, the jar was opened during the Christmas Eve feast.

As the pickle is blown glass and as I really didn't want a bunch of kids digging in my tree,  My process was more like a White Elephant Swap I would make up several small gifts boxes filled with small treats but one box would also have some money in it (typically $5-$20 depending how good times were.)  Then all the kids would sit in a circle and the Christmas Pickle Poem would be read.  Each time the word Pickle was said the kids would pass the presents to the person seated to the left of them/.  Once the last "pickle" was mentioned, the kids would open the boxes and one lucky child would get more than a few pieces of candy!

I don't know how many years I've done this but I still have the poem I wrote.    Everyone seems to enjoy it and even the children who didn't win the big present still got some candy. 

Here's the poem  (It may sound a little familiar)

The Christmas PICKLE

 

It was Christmas Eve and the cupboard was bare

As Santa set off there wasn’t a PICKLE to spare.

“Its a long night” he said, “and It’s a PICKLE I need”

His wife  exclaimed “so did the reindeer, we ran out of feed.”

My PICKLES! My PICKLES, were fed to the deer!

“They were hungry, You’re late! Now get out of here”

 

Poor Santa took off without a PICKLE

“A cruel world” he thought “Fate is so fickle”

“Perhaps in a home I might find a PICKLE”

“And for each PICKLE I eat, A Nickel I'll leave!”

 

So off he flew with his eight reindeer sleigh

In search of a PICKLE before the break of day

A PICKLE , a PICKLE by the Christmas tree

A PICKLE, a PICKLE is the treat for me

 

Cookies and milk was at the first house

He took a small nibble and fed the rest to a mouse.

A PICKLE, a PICKLE is want I crave

He left the presents and returned to his sleigh

 

More cookies were met with each coming place

I know these gifts will light up a child’s face.

He thought as he left a whole bunch of toys.

But its PICKLES that would bring me my holiday Joy.

 

A gherkin , or dill, I’m really not picky

Just give me a PICKLE , no relish that’s sticky.

A PICKLE so juicy not a cucumber be

A PICKLE is the treat that’s right for me!

 

As he finished his rounds his hopes were all dashed.

No house would he find a great PICKLE stash

A PICKLE so sweet would be so grand

But it is cookies and cake throughout the whole land

 

He was feeling quite low, yes down right glum

When at the last house was only eggnog and rum.

No PICKLES for Santa, No PICKLES tonight.

And he flew to north pole no PICKLE in sight!.

 

Poor Santa had spread so much joy all around

But no PICKLE, not one PICKLE could be  found!

But as he came in from his cold winter night.

His eyes were filled with joy at the glorious sight

 

The cupboards were filled with PICKLES galore

Sweet gherkins, and dills,  Bread and Butter and more

Kosher PICKLES and even a PICKLE on a stick

A PICKLE on a stick now that’s a nice trick

 

His wife gave a smile and said you're home at last

Now its  PICKLES  just PICKLES for your Christmas repast

He took the first bite and his tummy was tickled

With the taste of his first, a sweet Christmas PICKLE.

 

Yes its PICKLES he wanted

and now its PICKLES he got.

and he  kissed his good wife and he gave her a tickle

Then said with a wink Merry Christmas to all and to all a good PICKLE

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Permalink Reply by J.J. Smith III on December 19, 2013 at 8:57

Don't think I can add anything to John and Ron's  answers.

Perfectly sized for a Seahorse...

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 19, 2013 at 18:28

I am so impressed with the different versions of the Pickle.  Tobias, you never cease to amaze me!  We have to get together at an iKC function and have a knife pass around using the pickle poem!  I am reaching to try to find a stumper!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on December 19, 2013 at 20:14

The tradition of the Christmas Pickle has got to be one of the strangest modern Christmas customs in that no one is quite sure why it exists at all!

In the 1880s Woolworth stores started selling glass ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of various fruit and vegetables. It seems that pickles must have been among the selection!

Around the same time it was claimed that the Christmas Pickle was a very old German tradition and that the pickle was the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and then the first child to find the pickle got an extra present. However, this seems to be a total myth! Not many people in Germany have even heard of the Christmas Pickle! (Similarly in Russia virtually no one knows the supposedly Russian story of Babushka!)

There are two other rather far-fetched stories linking the pickle to Christmas.

One features a fighter in the American Civil War who was born in Bavaria (an area of what is now Germany). He was a prisoner, and starving, he begged a guard for one last pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and gave a pickle to him. The pickle gave him the mental and physical strength to live on!

The other story is linked to St. Nicholas. It's a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from a boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the evil innkeeper, killed the boys and put them in a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, and found the boys in the barrel and miraculously bought them back to life!

There is an old legend about St. Nicholas rescuing boys from a barrel but the barrel was originally holding meat for pies - not pickles!

So it's most likely that an ornament salesmen, with a lot of spare pickles to sell, invented the legend of the Christmas Pickle!

The American city of Berrien Springs, MI (also known as the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World) has an annual pickle festival held during the early part of December.

Christmas Traditions and Custom  I didnt know about the Xmas Pickle??  I do now LOL

Jan Carter said:

Answer:  I liked this one because it was the one I found that took a good guess at half a mile LOL...

They journeyed 92.5 miles.

****Day 7****

Q:  How did the tradition of the Christmas pickle begin?

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on December 19, 2013 at 20:19

.

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• 003.JPG, 1.4 MB

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on December 19, 2013 at 20:25

I missed yesterday with everything else going on. Here is today's pic.

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• 001.JPG, 608 KB

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Cherry Ray on December 19, 2013 at 20:45

The tradition of the Christmas Pickle has got to be one of the strangest modern Christmas customs in that no one is quite sure why it exists at all! In the 1880s Woolworth stores started selling glass ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of various fruit and vegetables. It seems that pickles must have been among the selection! Around the same time it was claimed that the Christmas Pickle was a very old German tradition and that the pickle was the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and then the first child to find the pickle got an extra present. However, this seems to be a total myth! Not many people in Germany have even heard of the Christmas Pickle! (Similarly in Russia virtually no one knows the supposedly Russian story of Babushka!) There are two other rather far-fetched stories linking the pickle to Christmas. One features a fighter in the American Civil War who was born in Bavaria (an area of what is now Germany). He was a prisoner, and starving, he begged a guard for one last pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and gave a pickle to him. The pickle gave him the mental and physical strength to live on! The other story is linked to St. Nicholas. It's a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from a boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the evil innkeeper, killed the boys and put them in a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, and found the boys in the barrel and miraculously bought them back to life! There is an old legend about St. Nicholas rescuing boys from a barrel but the barrel was originally holding meat for pies - not pickles! So it's most likely that an ornament salesmen, with a lot of spare pickles to sell, invented the legend of the Christmas Pickle! The American city of Berrien Springs, MI (also known as the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World) has an annual pickle festival held during the early part of December. Christmas Traditions and Custom

Christmas is ... spending time on iKC with friends!  my pic reflects that!

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 19, 2013 at 21:55

well we have made it to the stockings and the Christmas tree

you make me proud to be a part of iKC!

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 19, 2013 at 21:59

Day 7 Answer

The tradition of the Christmas Pickle has got to be one of the strangest modern Christmas customs in that no one is quite sure why it exists at all!

In the 1880s Woolworth stores started selling glass ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of various fruit and vegetables. It seems that pickles must have been among the selection!

Around the same time it was claimed that the Christmas Pickle was a very old German tradition and that the pickle was the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and then the first child to find the pickle got an extra present. However, this seems to be a total myth! Not many people in Germany have even heard of the Christmas Pickle! (Similarly in Russia virtually no one knows the supposedly Russian story of Babushka!)

There are two other rather far-fetched stories linking the pickle to Christmas.

One features a fighter in the American Civil War who was born in Bavaria (an area of what is now Germany). He was a prisoner, and starving, he begged a guard for one last pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and gave a pickle to him. The pickle gave him the mental and physical strength to live on!

The other story is linked to St. Nicholas. It's a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from a boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the evil innkeeper, killed the boys and put them in a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, and found the boys in the barrel and miraculously bought them back to life!

There is an old legend about St. Nicholas rescuing boys from a barrel but the barrel was originally holding meat for pies - not pickles!

So it's most likely that an ornament salesmen, with a lot of spare pickles to sell, invented the legend of the Christmas Pickle!

*****************Day 8 *********************

According to German traditions every Christmas Tree should include these 11 ornaments to ensure happiness, peace and joy for the coming year?  What are they and what do they represent?

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 19, 2013 at 22:36

The stockings are hung with care......

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on December 19, 2013 at 22:43

Actually, there are 12 ornaments-

There is a German tradition that a new couple's Christmas tree should include 12 special ornaments to ensure their happiness during the coming years. Package the following ornaments in a special box for young couples in your family!

1-House for protection

2-Rabbit for hope

3-Teapot for hospitality

4-Bird for joy

5-Rose for affection

6-Fruit Basket for generosity

7-Fish for Christ's blessing

8-Pine Cone for fruitfulness

9-Santa for goodwill

10-Flower Basket for good wishes

11-Heart for true love

12-A glass grape ornament is also a German symbol of friendship. Giving this special ornament to a friend is a pledge of friendship, and makes a treasured keepsake as well.

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FeaturedPermalink Reply by Charles Sample on December 19, 2013 at 22:53

According to the old German tradition, the tree of a newlywed couple should include these twelve ornaments to insure blessing and happiness for their life together..
An Angel - God's Guidance in the Home 
A Rose - Beauty and Affection
A Rabbit - Hope and Faith
A Teapot - Hospitality
A Pine Cone - Motherhood and Fruitfulness
A Santa - Unselfishness and Goodwill
A House - Shelter and Protection
A Fruit Basket - Generosity
A Bird - Happiness and Joy
A Flower Basket - Good Wishes
A Heart - True Love
A Fish - Christ's Blessing

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