It’s Christmas!
During this Advent season, we have been continuing our tradition of taking a trip around the world, exploring Christmas traditions from different countries. This week, we’re headed back home to explore some traditions that are uniquely American.
While Christmas light displays are fairly common around the world, the United States has taken it to a whole other level. Imagine living in another country and learning that in the U.S. there is a televised competition to create the most outrageously impressive Christmas display. Well, those who have followed The Great Christmas Light Fight over the past NINE SEASONS(!) may know that not only does such a show exist, a local family, the Birketts, actually won the competition back in 2017. Having seen their display firsthand, it absolutely lives up to expectations (it even snows!). Your family can see the Birkett house – and many other amazing displays – using this map.
Watching Christmas movies is also a pretty American custom; the breadth and depth of the holiday movies produced (and consumed) in the U.S. is absolutely unmatched anywhere else. Your family likely already has some favorites, but consider adding a few new ones to your list after checking out this extensive breakdown of the best family-friendly Christmas films.
The final tradition we’d like to share is a less familiar one, but certainly worth learning more about: the Christmas Pickle! Some American families hang a pickle ornament on their tree, and the first kid who finds it on Christmas morning receives a prize – maybe they get to open the first gift, or they receive an extra one, or they are just promised good luck in the coming year. What’s interesting about this endearing, if odd, tradition is that nobody can quite pin down its origins. Many assume it’s a German tradition, but a poll conducted in Germany revealed that most of them had never even heard of it. Some say it recalls when St. Nick rescued two children from a pickle barrel, but there’s no evidence of this. Some say it honors the Civil War soldier who on Christmas begged his captors for a single pickle to stave off starvation, and survived – but there’s no real evidence of that either. One theory that seems plausible is that the Christmas Pickle ritual was invented by ornament sellers who needed a way to move their less-popular ornaments, and the rest of the back story grew up around it. If you’d like to dig into this tradition on your own, here's a place to start.
Whether your family’s Christmas includes lights, movies, or hidden pickles, we hope it’s a merry one!
