TRP Advent Calendar 04 – The Christmas Pickle
4
Behind the fourth door we want to introduce an American habit that is not very common. Moreover, the tradition is said to originate in Germany and is increasingly being forgotten.

The Christmas Pickle
Wer sich zu Weihnachten über besonders viele Geschenke freut, dem können wir die Tradition der „Weihnachtsgurke“ ans Herz legen! Das gläserne Ornament wird wie eine normale Christbaumkugel aufgehangen.

Whoever finds the pickle on the tree will receive an additional gift.
But because of its green color it is not so easy to detect. Whoever finds the Christmas cucumber, however, is in for an additional gift!
The origin of this custom is not entirely clear. It is assumed that the origin can be traced back to Germany - but is that really the case?

The tradition has a doubtful origin
Probably the Christmas pickle was developed for marketing purposes. In 1890 Woolworths was the first company to import glass decorations of this kind to America. From 1892, the United States also imported vegetable glass ornaments from France.
Even though the custom originally comes from elsewhere, Christmas cucumbers are still associated with a German origin.