Die Weihnachtsgurke

I began taking German earlier this year and as my mom has a habit of doing, she dove into it with almost as much enthusiasm as I. So, when I came home over Christmas break, I was not surprised to find out that she had hidden a glass pickle ornament deep in the branches of our Christmas tree. Now, I had known about this before she told me about it, but I had never done much research into the topic. Many Americans of German descent claim that this is an age old German tradition. To sum it up, the child who finds it first is awarded an extra gift by Ole St. Nick and the first adult to find it is traditionally awarded good luck for the upcoming year. Now, there are obvious flaws in this "age old tradition" seeing as St. Nick normally shows up on the 5th or 6th of December, not Christmas Day. In addition, in German culture, children open their gifts on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, unlike their American counterparts. Perhaps this tradition originated in America from German immigrants. Then again another story has it beginning in the town of Laschau, Germany many, many years ago. Either way, it is a tradition that we have started as a family and hopefully I can keep my "finding" streak alive. Many people speculate that this was originally started because children would rush to open their gifts rather than appreciate the ornaments and familial ties to the holiday.