From 1960 to 2004, St. Charles was home of the Pickle Packers International headquarters. During this time, the CEO of the company, Bill “The Dill” Moore, promoted the consumption of pickles to the point of earning St. Charles the title of “Pickle Capital of the World.”

Moore created items such as pickle golf clubs, pickle phones, pickle purses, Miss Pickle contests and more. These pickle items were not only in St. Charles, but were sent as far as England to Prince Harry and William.

A holiday tradition for German families is to hide a pickle ornament on the Christmas tree, and the first person to find it will get a prize or is allowed to open their presents first. The St. Charles History Museum came up with the idea of using the German Christmas tradition of hiding a pickle ornament to tell the history of the pickle in St. Charles in a fun way.

The St. Charles History Museum and the Downtown St. Charles Partnership are organizing a Pickle Scavenger Hunt in downtown St. Charles in honor of Small Business Saturday, which takes place this year on Nov. 26. The hunt will run until Dec. 31, and winners for the three prizes will be picked on Jan. 3, after the new year.

Prizes will be given for Best Selfie, Best Caption and Most Pickles Found. Participants will follow clues that are given out on our Twitter – @STCHistoryMus. A “Pickle Stop” will place the ornament somewhere in their business for participants to find and take a selfie with the pickle ornament. The selfies then will be posted on our social media using #PickleTheTown.