“Find the pickle”– a pickle-shaped ornament hidden somewhere on the Xmas tree, with the person who finds it getting an extra present– is a common American Christmas tradition. But, though it’s mistakenly believed to be an old German tradition, nobody seems to know how the Christmas Pickle tradition started. One myth involves a Civil War soldier of Bavarian origin who’d been imprisoned by the enemy: He begged the guard for one last pickle before he died, and it gave him the will to carry on. Another myth involves St. Nicholas rescuing two boys from a pickle barrel. But the truth is that the legend was most likely started by retailers selling glass ornaments imported from Germany. The town of Berrien Springs, Michigan holds a pickle festival every year in December.
In spite of Ethiopia’s Christian heritage, Christmas is not an important holiday there. Most people actually call the holiday Ganna or Genna after a hockey-like ball game played only once a year, on Christmas afternoon.
People in Iceland will often exchange books on Christmas Eve, then spend the rest of the night reading them and eating chocolate. The tradition is part of a season called Jolabokaflod, or “The Christmas Book Flood.” As a result, Iceland publishes more books per capita then any other country selling most of them between September and November.
There are 12 courses in the traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper, each of them dedicated to one of Christ’s apostles.
In Ghana many people observe a traditional folk libation ritual at Christmastime. In it, people drink from a cup and then pour some of its contents on the ground as a symbolic offering to their ancestors.
Christmas rituals in East African countries such as Kenya and Uganda are much more religious and less commercial than our western holiday. The most common gift is a new outfit to wear to church, and many people collect stones, leaves, and other natural items as a birthday present for Jesus. Roasted goats are often the center of the Christmas feast.
Most people think of Japanese cuisine, which largely centers around seafood and rice, as being relatively healthy. So it may come as a surprise to know that family Christmas traditions in Japan include eating their big holiday meal at fast food giant KFC!
Winning the award for longest preparation time, Greenland’s traditional Christmas dish, kiviak, takes a full seven months to prepare. It begins with hollowing out a seal skin and stuffing it with 500 auks– a sea bird (feathers and all)– to ferment. When the holiday rolls around, it’s served straight from the seal.
Christmas pudding was originally more than just a tasty treat. Small items such as coins (wealth) and buttons (bachelorhood) were put inside, and supposedly foretold what the New Year would bring.
The candy cane’s origins can be traced back to Europe circa 1670, but it didn’t appear in the U.S. until the 1800s. They were generally all white until the 1900s, when they took on a shape representing Jesus’ hook for shepherding his lambs and colors representing purity (white) and Christ’s sacrifice (red).