The Christmas Pickle...

[SIMPLYB1980]

http://mymerrychristmas.com/2005/pickle.shtml

"It is a quaint tradition that nobody wants to claim. And its story would not be the first tradition of Christmas born of a total fabrication. It is the little-known tradition of the Christmas pickle.

The Christmas pickle is not really a pickle at all. It is a pickle-shaped ornament that is the last one hung on the tree on Christmas Eve. The first child to find the Christmas pickle gets an extra gift from Saint Nicholas. Or so the so-called legend goes.

There are two other versions of the origins of the Christmas pickle. One is a family story of a Bavarian-born ancestor who fought in the American Civil War. A prisoner in poor health and starving, he begged a guard for just one pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and found a pickle for him. The pickle by the grace of God gave him the mental and physical strength to live on."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-tOh1hMCs

[brendan120678]

1. We used to put a pickle ornament...

in the tree when I was a kid.

And, like the story said, whoever found it got an extra gift.
Of course, that extra gift usually ended up being something we were going to get anyways - so I think the fun was in just trying to claim victory in finding the pickle.

[SIMPLYB1980]

2. Yeah me and my Sister still compete to see who

can find it first. Though this year I think we will let her 3 year old find it.