The Blasphemous Christmas Pickle Hunt

While the custom of hiding a pickle ornament in the Christmas tree is often associated with Germany, it actually caused a major religious scandal in 19th-century eastern France. Local priests fiercely condemned the practice of hiding glass pickles, gherkins, or fruits in the branches. They argued that turning the sacred nativity tree into a competitive, chaotic scavenger hunt for food was a pagan insult to the solemnity of the holiday.