The Christmas Pickle!
No Victorian Christmas would have been complete without the traditional festive pickle. The green glass ornament would be hidden within the Christmas tree (helped in no small part by its natural camouflage), and whoever was lucky enough to find it first on Christmas would either be treated to a special present or would be allowed to open their other presents first. This rather odd tradition of a fortune-bringing pickle comes from a loosely coherent medieval legend.
According to one version of the legend, two Spanish boys were traveling home from their boarding school for the holidays when decided to check into a roadside inn. They had neglected to consult their TripAdvisor, however, for it turned out that the owner of the inn was a complete psychopath. After stealing their possessions, the innkeeper stuffed them inside a (presumably industrial-sized) pickle barrel. But luckily for the boys, St. Nicholas stopped by the inn later that day, and after he’d learned about what had happened he freed them from their captivity and sent them home to their families.