My husband and I JUST got done putting our tree up :-) My favorite ornament is my pickle!
The pickle game goes a follows: The head of house hides the pickle inside the Christmas tree while the kids are out of the room. All the kids come in, and search thr tree for the pickle. Whoever finds it first gets an extra small gift.
I remember playing the pickle game as long as I've been alive, and my 2.5 yr old is going to play for the first time this Christmas! I can't wait for him to have those fun memories with his siblings and cousins.
Does anyone else do the Christmas pickle? Or, what are your fun family games and traditions??
OK so this is a lesson in the old adage "you're never too old to learn something new"! I have seen those L. glass pickles for years in the stores and always thought they seemed quite silly. This is the first time I've ever heard the story of how they are used. It is a cute tradition, but I don't think I'll start it now that I'm in my 8th decade of life!
I had never heard of the Christmas Pickle, until an employer of mine mentioned it. I thought it was a neat idea, and found a really pretty blown glass pickle (makes it REALLY hard to find!) on vacation one time.
Since we only have 2 kids, it isn't quite as much fun... but we have done it. Typically, I purchase a family game as the "extra" gift, so we all get to enjoy it. :)
So that's why I see glass pickle ornaments in the stores! I've never heard of this but it sounds like fun. Think I will start it myself next year. We otherwise have no trraditions in that respect...angel goes on the tree first & then all other ornaments. We have a lot that were gifts from special friends, we try to give our boys a new ornament every year & then we have the ones they made in preschool. We reminice (SP?) about each one as we put it up.
Last year was the first time I had ever heard of the Christmas pickle. My son's teacher was planning on teaching about Christmas traditions all over the world. She mentioned that her lesson on Germany would be about the Christmas Pickle. I spent over eight years in Germany and I had NEVER heard of the Christmas Pickle. (I expected her lesson to be about St Nick day, Christkindl, ect.) So I had to google it. And I found the story interesting. MAybe you are already familiar, but I thought I'd share. Probably an exaggeration and not altogether true, but fun non the less. Apparently a man was imprisoned during the Civil War and asked for a pickle before he died. A guard took pity on him and gave him a pickle. It sustained him and he credited it with helping him survive. He then started to hide the pickle for his children to find and bring them good fortune. (http://americustimesrecorder.com/local/x489050166/The-And... ) ( Apparently an ornament company in Germany heard this story and started to make hand blown glass pickles and telling the story to promote sales??? Hence, the German connection). I love the idea though. What a fun tradition and fun way for kids to really appreciate the tree and all the ornaments.
We have lots of L. Christmas traditions. Nothing all that unique or extraordinary, but fun for us. My favorite regarding the tree is making popcorn strings with my kids. This is the first year we made it long enough to cover the whole tree, at six and three, the kids were able to really help with the task. We work on the strings while watching Christmas shows (the ones shown on ABC) and tie all the L. strings together to make one large string. The kids are so proud of that popcorn! ;) Merry Christmas!
Yes, we do the pickle too! :) It is my favorite ornament because I loved the book Super Pickle when I was L. and that was my grandma's nickname for me. :)
Where can I find a glass blown pickle? I'd like to do it with my family.
We do the pickle, but St Nick hides the pickle and leaves an extra present for the child that finds it.
We used to do it as children, my Grandma's really good friend got us one.
There is a store in MI called Bronner's that I know has them. I've recently started to see them around other stores too, though. Funny, we had a L. card that said it was a german tradition.....hmmm...
Here is a L. history I found on it:
We just bought a Christmas Pickle at the Dollar Tree! It even explains the whole concept. Except it say that whoever finds the pickle gets good luck for the next year and also gets to open the first present (no extra present). We only have one child and he just turned 1 last month, so I am sure he will be the one to "find" the pickle for a few years!
I'm from Germany, never heard about the pickle ?
But maybe it depends where you are from Germany...sounds like fun :)
I heard about the Pickel years ago and it is suppose to be a German tradition. It is not. I am German and we never ever had a Pickel anywhere near the Christmas tree unless it was cut up on the buffet table.
EDIT : I know a lot of Germans here in DC and there is a German American Message board and not a single German either at my German Church or at the message board has ever heard of that darn German Pickel tradition. We guess someone made a pickel ornament and invented the story as a gimmick to sell it.
