Christmas is lovely, full of twinkling lights and that comforting scent of pine needles, but sometimes, the things we do for tradition? They’re just plain bizarre. We get so caught up in the rhythm of our own yearly rituals—the same music, the same cookie recipe—that we forget how truly wild some of these global customs are. Take the nativity scene, for example, which is a baby in a trough, for goodness sake! But don’t worry, we’re not talking about shepherds and angels today. We’re diving into the deep end of holiday absurdity.
The Infamous Pickle (Is it Even German?)
Ah, the Christmas Pickle. You’ve probably seen the ornament—a glass gherkin tucked deep inside the evergreen boughs. The tale, or legend, or marketing campaign, suggests that the first child on Christmas morning to find the hidden pickle gets an extra present or maybe good luck for the year. That’s a neat, low-stakes game, honestly.
Here’s the kicker, though, and this always makes me chuckle: most people who practice this in the U.S. firmly believe it’s an ancient German tradition. Except, if you ask actual Germans? They’ll usually give you a confused, polite shrug. It’s a mystery! It seems to be a largely German-American creation, perhaps spun from a clever retail strategy or a forgotten local story. Does it matter where it came from? Not really. It’s still wonderfully ridiculous that a whole family is searching for a vegetable-shaped ornament among dozens of shiny spheres. It just feels so American to accidentally invent a European tradition.
When Santa Needs Backup (The Bad Kind)
If your kids are acting up this month, maybe skip the Elf on the Shelf and tell them about Krampus. This tradition, primarily celebrated in Austria and parts of Bavaria, makes our coal-in-a-stocking threat look like a gentle hug. While Krampus often appears on the night of December 5th (Krampusnacht), St. Nicholas rewards the good children on December 6th (St. Nicholas Day). Krampus—a terrifying, horned, half-goat demon—punishes the naughty ones. The punishment includes switches, chains, and maybe even being hauled away in a sack. Seriously, why are we trying to give children nightmares for Christmas? I mean, really! Seeing the Krampus Runs, where men dress up in these intensely scary, furry costumes, roaming the streets and chasing people, is quite the spectacle. It’s hard to imagine something so genuinely unsettling being part of the holiday cheer. But hey, it certainly motivates obedience, doesn’t it?
The Festive Feline That Demands Fashion
Speaking of terrifying figures, let’s travel to Iceland. Forget Rudolph; they have the Jólakötturinn, or the Yule Cat. This isn’t your average fluffy housecat, mind you. This is a massive, monstrous beast that prowls the snowy countryside around Christmas, looking for its next meal.
And what does it eat? People. Yeah, actual people. Specifically, lazy folks who didn’t finish their work before Christmas and, therefore, didn’t receive new clothes. If you got new socks or a sweater, you were safe. If you didn’t? Well, you were risking being devoured by a gigantic feline with a surprisingly strict dress code. I don’t know about you, but a cat demanding fine clothing under threat of consumption feels like peak holiday absurdity. Talk about pressure shopping!
Why Walk When You Can Roll?
Contrast that monstrous threat with a genuinely joyful, though equally strange, tradition from Caracas, Venezuela. On Christmas morning, residents of the capital don’t walk or drive to morning mass. Not a chance! They roller skate.
Yes, roller skate.
The tradition is so beloved and ingrained in the local culture that many city streets are actually closed off to traffic early in the day so the skating congregation can get to church safely. It’s said that children even tie one end of a string from their skate around their toe, dangling the other end out the window, so their friends can give it a tug to wake them up. I just love the pure, community-driven fun of it. It’s a beautifully odd mix of solemnity and extreme wheeled transportation. It’s definitely a better way to burn off those holiday cookies than sitting on the couch, I’ll give them that.
Do these traditions seem completely bonkers when you lay them all out? Absolutely. But isn’t that part of the fun? We hold onto them, year after year, because they remind us that the holiday season doesn’t have to be perfect or logical—just memorable.
Let me know, what’s the weirdest tradition your family insists on? Did I miss an even more ridiculous one?
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And before you go, you must check these 6 weird Irish luck rituals people still swear by.
Sources
- www.contiki.com/six-two/article/christmas-traditions-around-the-world/
- www.internations.org/magazine/unusual-christmas-traditions-from-around-the-world-39709
- www.rd.com/list/christmas-eve-traditions/
- www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/dec/18/the-seven-most-terrifying-christmas-traditions-around-the-world
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