# Hanging a Pickle in your Christmas tree? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250 "2006-12-07T18:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/21 "2006-12-07T23:05:19Z")
Never heard of it, don’t recall ever seeing one. However, if I did see one previously, I probably wrote it off as “bizarre Xmas ornament” and promptly forgot about it. I mean, the _weird_ things some people put on their trees! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/22 "2006-12-07T23:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Are you talking about the [Victorian Trading Company](http://victoriantradingco.com/)? Because I LOVE their catalogs! [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s called “Acorn”. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/23 "2006-12-07T23:55:05Z")
I have one that someone gave me and I was told that it was German and whoever found the pickle first got a special present (freebie, usually). I hadn’t heard of it until about 5 years ago, they seem to be multiplying. I have all kinds of things in my tree because I have been collecting ornaments since I was \<1mo old. I mean, how many of you have a Jeff Gordon car being pitted by a crew of 5 elves in full DuPont firesuits? If you do…is it next to a raccoon stealing candy out of a Christmas stocking? I think not! Yeah, I’m strange. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/24 "2006-12-08T00:27:18Z")
Whoa. My parents would do the “find the pickle” thing with us as kids, and I always thought they were just being weird. I’m surprised to hear _anyone_ else does it, much less that some think it’s a tradition (even though it’s probably not). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/25 "2006-12-08T00:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] Whoa. My parents would do the “find the pickle” thing with us as kids, and I always thought they were just being weird. I’m surprised to hear _anyone_ else does it, much less that some think it’s a tradition (even though it’s probably not). [/QUOTE] It’s definitely a tradition, it’s just not a tradition that seems to have been widely remarked in England and the U.S. It may well be a German thing; if anyone knows the words for “Christmas Pickle” in German, I can go look it up in the _Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens_ at the library. (My German is rudimentary, but I can use the index.) I’m not sure how old **WhyNot** is, but I’m guessing her reference to her grandparents’ first Christmas takes it back at least to the 1950s if not earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/26 "2006-12-08T01:02:21Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Actually, it’s called “Acorn”. [/QUOTE] Okay, that’s good, now I don’t feel like a little old lady! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/27 "2006-12-08T02:16:48Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Okay, that’s good, now I don’t feel like a little old lady! [/QUOTE] Can I note, without offending, that I followed your link to the Victorian catalogs without really noticing who had posted it, then thought while looking at those pages that “I’ll bet **Guinastasia** would love this stuff”? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/28 "2006-12-08T02:26:54Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] It’s definitely a tradition, it’s just not a tradition that seems to have been widely remarked in England and the U.S. It may well be a German thing; if anyone knows the words for “Christmas Pickle” in German, I can go look it up in the _Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens_ at the library. (My German is rudimentary, but I can use the index.) I’m not sure how old **WhyNot** is, but I’m guessing her reference to her grandparents’ first Christmas takes it back at least to the 1950s if not earlier. [/QUOTE] I’m 32, and my grandmother just turned 80. [This site](http://www.sabineworld.com/12062002.html) by some chick named Sabine who lived in Germany (she has family there, but it’s not clear if she herself is German or not), thinks it’s an American tradition dating from the post-Civil War era. She agrees it’s not German in origin: > [@](#): > > I dug and dug and while there are a zillion stories out there it seems that the > one I’m about to share with you is the most likely the real thing. > It seems that the tradition is an American one, though of German descent. A > man who was born in Bavaria in 1842 came with his family to the United > States. > > Here he fought in the American Civil War (1861-1865). He was captured and > sent to prison in Andersonville, Georgia. The name I got for this unfortunate > soul is Johannes Lower. In poor health and starving, he begged a guard for a > pickle he had. The guard took pity on him and gave him the pickle. > According to lore, the pickle – by the grace of God – gave Johannes 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. I can’t corroborate her story, but it’s as likely as any. (I’d say it’s “possibly apocryphal”, but that makes some Dopers mad, apparently. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/29 "2006-12-08T03:48:23Z")
And now you know … the \*rest \* of the story. Paul Harvey … good _day_! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/30 "2006-12-08T05:55:18Z")
I’ve heard of a “ **hide** the pickle” game, but it wasn’t seasonal, and it had nothing to do with Christmas trees. It’s a delightful lust-based game. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/31 "2006-12-08T06:06:42Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Can I note, without offending, that I followed your link to the Victorian catalogs without really noticing who had posted it, then thought while looking at those pages that “I’ll bet **Guinastasia** would love this stuff”? [/QUOTE] Offend me? I’m actually quite flattered! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/32 "2006-12-08T07:07:05Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] It may well be a German thing; if anyone knows the words for “Christmas Pickle” in German, I can go look it up in the _Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens_ at the library. (My German is rudimentary, but I can use the index.) [/QUOTE] [wikipedia.de](http://wikipedia.de) calls it [Weihnachtsgurke](http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsgurke). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/33 "2006-12-08T07:42:25Z")
34 Christmases, in the US and the UK, visiting many people of many faiths… never heard of this before. The only decoration of note that comes to mind is hanging a star or angel on top of the tree. Having lived in Central Texas, where a whole bunch of folks of German descent live, I think I would have heard this one before. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/34 "2006-12-08T16:17:40Z")
My family is of German descent, mostly living in eastern Penna. The rest of the family is German Reformed/United Church of Christ and my parents were converted to Catholicism. Never has a pickle made an appearance on the Christmas tree. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/35 "2006-12-08T16:28:08Z")
My family is German American. I have never heard of such a thing until this thread. I still have all the antique ornaments from Germany. I’m quite sure I would remember a pickle in the box if we had one. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/36 "2006-12-08T17:02:34Z")
_sings_ Mister Briney, the Christmas Pickle… _done singing_ ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/37 "2006-12-08T17:03:48Z")
Both sides of my family are quite proudly Bavarian, and while Bavarian Christmas ornaments are somewhat distinctive in my memory (my mother had a set like [this](http://www.christmas-decorations-gifts-store.com/store/PPF/parameters/846_197/more_info.asp)), I recall no pickle. No pickle stories, either. We once received a set of candles for the tree from one of the Munich relatives and put them on the tree for a couple of years, but never did light them. No pickles! ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/38 "2006-12-08T22:04:04Z")
“Hanging a pickle in your Christmas tree”. Sounds like a “B” side on an old blues record. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/39 "2006-12-09T01:16:55Z")
Canadian, living in Maryland, have lived in Alberta, NWT, and Ontario in Canada; I have never heard of the Christmas pickle other than on the SDMB. Og bless us, every one. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250/40 "2006-12-09T05:19:04Z")
Here’s what that German Wikipedia page says, courtesy of Babel Fish. Enjoy! A Weihnachtsgurke is a Christmas tree decoration blown from glass in form of a cucumber. > [@](#): > > Before giving the cucumber in the Christmas tree is hidden. Parents let then the children - of some distance - afterwards search and the child, who discovers the cucumber, may as the first its gifts open. With more than two children in the family according to more cucumbers in the tree are hidden and the gifts in the order of finding are opened. Weihnachtsgurken enjoy particularly in the USA of large popularity. There is spread, it concerns an old German Weihnachtstradition. In Germany however the custom is almost unknown [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanging-a-pickle-in-your-christmas-tree/383250.md?page=3)