Bitte hier für die deutsche Version dieses Artikels klicken!

Unbelievable: In the US "German Glass Pickle Ornaments" are appreciated for decorating the christmas tree. People believe it's a german tradition to decorate the tree with a little cucumber made of glass. I couldn't believe it when I watched it minutes ago on tv. It was the first time I've ever heard of this "tradition". Even my x-mas books don't say anything about this "old custum"...

On a christmas decoration & gift store site I even found the story behind this so called tradition:
"The glass Christmas pickle ornament is always the last glass ornament to be hung on the Christmas tree. The parents hide the glass pickle ornament in the Christmas tree among the other German glass ornaments. When the children were allowed to view the Christmas tree they would begin gleefully searching for the German glass pickle ornament. The children knew that whoever found the glass pickle ornament first would receive an extra little gift and would be the one to begin the unwrapping of the Christmas gifts." (copyright)

Even Wikipedia gives us an entry about this funny "tradition" but doubts about the whole story: "This tradition is said to come from Germany, but this is probably apocryphal. In fact, the tradition is widely unknown in Germany." (For the whole entry click here)

What have I missed for 34 years now? Not a single hidden cucumber in 34 years! The more I think about it the nicer the idea gets: Next year I'll have a "German Christmas Pickle" in my tree!

For german readers: Das ist für mich die Gurke des Tages!

Update 2006: Es gibt übrigens auch Tomaten aus Glas, die man an den Tannenbaum hängen kann ...