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The Christmas pickle is a peculiar tradition

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The Local Oven in Prairie du Chien sells the Christmas pickle in two varieties. The blown-glass emerald ornament is from Old World Glass. Roman company produces a lighter-colored porcelain pickle in a small jar. (Photos by Correne Martin)

By Correne Martin

Have you ever wondered what that peculiar story is behind the Christmas pickle? Were you aware that there is such a thing as a Christmas pickle?

Well, it’s real, and it’s a version of a small, pickled, garden cucumber, usually made of glass or porcelain, and fashioned as a quite charming ornament, actually.

You can even buy them locally at small businesses like The Local Oven, in Prairie du Chien. The Paper Moon, in McGregor, had them too, but as of Dec. 14, they were sold out. 

The legend is of German heritage, according to the labels and packaging of both ornament varieties The Local Oven sells. One is a glass-blown emerald green pickle, and the other is a smaller porcelain pickle, lighter in color, placed inside a tiny glass jar.

The legend says that, when decorating the Christmas tree, the last decoration—the pickle—is carefully hidden deep within the green boughs of the tree. When the children were allowed to see the tree for the first time on Christmas Day, the observant child who found the pickle was blessed with a special gift or a year of good fortune.

The Cervens—Greg, Rhonda and Joe—who own The Local Oven, were particularly knowledgeable about this unique sale item. They said the story varies slightly, as to whether the pickle finder gets a special present, gets to open one of the presents early or gets an extra gift. 

Joe himself happened to have found the Christmas pickle when he was a young boy and was given a “pickle present.” He received a bean bag couch that, over the years, was literally called the pickle because of the cutesy tradition. 

Jen White, at Paper Moon, has a pickle she hangs on her tree. She shared that her family business also started stocking the Christmas pickle with the story of the tradition on the box because people always wanted to know what it was all about. 

“I have a vintage book that’s all about unusual ideas for Christmas decorating and that’s in there,” she said. “I think it’s a neat gift idea.”

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