Duckfan-in-Chicago said:
I didn't think you were...I just thought that they HAD to know the truth with all those people working there from Germany but not afraid to push the product anyway. I heard of the pickle before Epcot. I have a bunch of German friends and there's a pretty strong German pop. in Chicago. Just giving a little more info.
Hello, German here. We never had a pickle; my family is from eastern Germany and the north, but lived in Bavaria for a long time. Nor have any of the German CMs that I talked to at the German pavilion heard about the pickle other than the pickle tree.
Luckily I knew about the pickle as a friend very proudly gave me a pickle from Crate and Barrel a few years ago, and I knew how to respond. (And isn't Crate and Barrel from Chicago originally, which may lend credence to Duckfan's comment that it may come from German Americans who lived in Chicago, and brought it from their home region)
Note however that just because so few people have heard about the pickle doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Germany is a very large country (and used to be even larger) and was simply a collection of principalities until the late 1800's. That means that there are very large variations in language, food, etc. In fact, there are over 20 words for things like 'donut'
Just look at Krampus - I went to post-secondary school 25km from where we used to live in Bavaria, and discovered Krampus (on Dec 5 and 6). I asked all my family why we had never heard of Krampus before, and they thought that I was nuts. It is very specific to a small area around Salzburg, on both sides of the border. Yet almost every German I have ever asked doesn't know about Krampus, and I have to keep finding websites to prove that he exists in local culture.....
(and BTW, there used to be a great book on German holiday tradition in the German pavilion; they no longer sell it, but it DID mention Krampus but no pickle)