VERIFY QUESTION
Let's crunch through the facts to find the truth about a popular Christmas tradition -- the pickle.
Good Morning Show anchor Meghann Mollerus is among the Christmas enthusiasts who celebrates the pickle tradition. In her childhood, her grandfather hid a pickle ornament in his tree, and the first grandchild to find it received an extra little gift from St. Nicholas (usually a few dollars).
The pickle ornament has long been associated as a German tradition, and usually American families who uphold it have German ancestry.
However, Good Morning Show viewer Christine Lutz wrote on Facebook, "My German friends who were born, raised and live in Germany told me the pickle ornament story is a myth. We have a pickle, too."
What is the true origin of the Christmas pickle?
VERIFY SOURCE
VERIFY PROCESS
The German history website German-Way.com identifies a big problem with the pickle tradition. As Lutz alluded, the majority of Germans haven't heard of it, much less practiced it. A German blogger on the website did find one possible link.
It involves an American Civil War soldier named John Lower. His family story claims soldiers captured Lower and sent him to prison in Andersonville, Georgia. He was in poor health and starving and begged a guard for just one pickle before he died. The legend alleges the pickle gave him the strength to live. Once he reunited with his family, he started a tradition of hiding a pickle on the Christmas tree.
VERIFY CONCLUSION
This might be more of a German American tradition than one that is rooted in Germany, but even Santa confirms Christmas traditions are whatever you make them. What is most important is the memory made with family in the spirit of the season.
Do you have a VERIFY inquiry? Send a note or selfie video to Meghann Mollerus:
Facebook: Meghann Mollerus News
E-mail: Mmollerus@wfmy.com
Twitter: @MeghannMollerus