Hang a pickle on the Christmas Tree?!?

connecticut yankee

First Sergeant
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Jun 2, 2017
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Where did hanging a pickle on the Christmas tree in America originate?

One suggested origin has been that the tradition came from Camp Sumter (Andersonville) during the American Civil War. The Bavarian-born Private John C. Lower had enlisted in the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry, but was captured in April 1864 and taken to the prison camp. As the story is told, on Christmas Eve he begged a guard for a pickle while starving. The guard provided the pickle, which Lower later credited for saving his life. After returning to his family, he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on their Christmas tree each year.

Today on Christmas Eve, parents hide the ornament deep on the tree branches. The tree's pine needles camouflage the green pickle, making it especially hard to find. On Christmas morning, the first kid to find the pickle is rewarded. Some families let the person who discovered the pickle open the first present.
 
I wondered how they were doing. I always get catalogue from Bronner's. They didn't send one this year to me. Have ordered from them several times in the past.

Towns like Frankenmuth are having struggles. We always went to Nashville, Indiana, an art and craft town. It has many struggles too. I really hope 2021 is better for all these folks. We all need a break and be able to go out and patronize places so they can flourish again.
 
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Really? Have a source for that?
I remember the subject came up previously and some German members claimed it was not a German tradition . I looked it up on the internet and several sources said it was a promotion by a salesman at Woolworths in the late 1800s who claimed it was a German tradition. Others mention the claim in this thread . My father's side of the family is nearly all German-American and they never mentioned it either.
 
I had a thread on this a couple of years ago.

 
I remember the subject came up previously and some German members claimed it was not a German tradition . I looked it up on the internet and several sources said it was a promotion by a salesman at Woolworths in the late 1800s who claimed it was a German tradition. Others mention the claim in this thread . My father's side of the family is nearly all German-American and they never mentioned it either.

That's not a source, but thanks anyway. The pickle Christmas ornament was made exclusively in German until recently; it's a German tradition.
 
That's not a source, but thanks anyway. The pickle Christmas ornament was made exclusively in German until recently; it's a German tradition.
Many of the imported German glass ornaments were of various fruits and vegetables . I remember we had several very old German ornaments when I was very young . Some were very delicate and were carefully packed away , but a relative helping put away ornaments one year dropped the box down the attic stairs. Sadly none survived.
 
From Wiki on the origins:

Origins[edit]​

This tradition is commonly believed by Americans to come from Germany and be referred to as a Weihnachtsgurke,[4][5] but this is probably apocryphal.[6][4][1] It has been suggested that the origin of the Christmas pickle may have been developed for marketing purposes in the 1890s to coincide with the importation of glass Christmas tree decorations from Germany. Woolworths was the first company to import these types of decorations into the United States in 1890,[4] and glass blown decorative vegetables were imported from France from 1892 onwards.[7] Despite the evidence showing that the tradition did not originate in Germany, the concept of Christmas pickles has since been imported from the United States and they are now on sale in the country traditionally associated with it.[4]

One suggested origin has been that the tradition came from Camp Sumter during the American Civil War. The Bavarian-born Private John C. Lower had enlisted in the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry, but was captured in April 1864 and taken to the prison camp. As the story is told, on Christmas Eve he begged a guard for a pickle while starving. The guard provided the pickle, which Lower later credited for saving his life. After returning to his family, he began a tradition of hiding a pickle on their Christmas tree each year.

Another origin which comes from Berrien Springs is a Victorian era tale of St. Nicholas saving two Spanish children who were trapped in a barrel of pickles by an innkeeper, which actually derives from a much more gruesome medieval legend involving a cannibalistic butcher butchering and storing a group of boys in a barrel and St. Nicholas miraculously restoring and resurrecting them.[1][8]
 
The 1700s – In parts of Austria and Germany, evergreen tips were brought into the home and hung top-down from the ceiling. They were often decorated with apples, gilded nuts, and red paper strips. Edible ornaments became so popular on Christmas Trees that they were often called “sugar trees.” German pickles are not acidic, they are semi-sweet.
 
Christmas Pickle

From the article:

The common tale told of the Christmas pickle, or Weihnachtsgurke, is that it’s an Old World tradition that started in Germany. It’s a yarn that’s printed on the packaging when you buy an ornament.

The only problem with that story is that most Germans have never heard of a Christmas pickle.

In December 2016, a YouGov survey found that 91 percent of Germans had never heard of the 'Weihnachtsgurke,' let alone had one in their own homes.
 
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