The Christmas Pickle

Sascha Müller of the Lauscha glass center, in the eastern German region where the making of glass Christmas ornaments started in the mid-19th century, said he had learned of the Christmas pickle for the first time in the 1990s, on a trip to Frankenmuth, Mich.

from the New York Times

Hang a pickle on your tree,
Christmas morn you'll happy be!
Ev'ry child should feel the thrill
of the Yuletide's bright green dill!
If a pickle you ain't got,
try a carrot or kumquat.
Decorate howe'er you want;
me, I like a fresh croissant!