The story of the Christmas pickle

By May Marquebreuck   –   Wicked Local

The origin of the Christmas pickle may be somewhat of a mystery, but it is a holiday tradition in parts of the United States and fun on Christmas morning. In the 1880s, the Woolworth stores began selling holiday ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of fruit and vegetables. Among their selection was the pickle, which was claimed to be an old German tradition. However, no one seems to be certain how and where it originated. According to historical records, production of the Christmas pickle ornaments began in the 1890s. One story about the Christmas pickle is connected with a soldier, Private John Lower who served in the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry in the American Civil War and was born in Bavaria in 1842. He and his family emigrated to the United States, and while fighting in the Civil War, he was captured and sent to a prison in Andersonville, Ga. Given the conditions and miserable food rations of the prison, he soon fell into critical poor health. Lower was dying of starvation and it was Christmas Eve, so he begged the guard for a pickle. The guard took pity on him, found and gave him a pickle and that gave Lower the mental and physical strength to live on. After being reunited with his family after the war, he began the tradition of hiding a pickle deep among the boughs of the Christmas tree, which was the last ornament to be hung on Christmas Eve. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning would be blessed with a year of good fortune and an extra gift from St. Nicholas. Another theory comes from a small town, Berrien Springs, Mich., which calls itself the “Christmas Pickle Capital of the World” — an uncontested title. As the story goes based on a medieval tale, two boys in Spain were trapped in a pickle barrel by an innkeeper while on their way home from boarding school for the Christmas holidays. They were freed by St. Nicholas, who had stopped at the inn and saved the boys when he tapped on the barrel with his staff. This town in Michigan celebrates the boy’s miraculous escape with an annual Christmas Pickle Festival in early December, complete with a parade led by the “Grand Dillmeister” who would hand out what else? Pickles! Whatever story you believe about the Christmas pickle, you may wish to begin a new family tradition and hide a pickle ornament in your tree. Pickle ornaments are available online at Crate & Barrel, Pier 1 Imports and ebay.