Roller skating in Venezuela and run through KFC in Japan are just a couple of the world’sunique Christmas custom . But you do n’t need to leave the United States to experience one of the vacation ’s most unusual traditions . In Saratoga Springs , New York , families mark the day by smashing apeppermint pigwith a hammer .
According toThe New York Times , the practice originated with a local man name Jim Mangay in the eighties . Saratoga Springs was a bustling tourist town during that fourth dimension , and European chefs who had come to work at hotels there wanted a substitute for marzipancandy . Marzipan was n’t easy to detect in the surface area , but Mangay did have access to peppermint fossil oil from his Father of the Church ’s apothecary . He used the ingredient to makepig - shaped candiesthat mimicked marzipan ’s playful designs , even if they did n’t quite capture the taste and grain .
The concoction soon detect its way into local holiday traditions . In Saratoga Springs , mob place a peppermint candy pig in a small sacque and pass it around the board after dinner on Christmas . After whop it with a metal hammer , each guest shares something good that happened to them in the former twelvemonth . The ritual ends with everyone taking a sherd of confect , symbolise successfulness and good luck in thenew year .
The custom nearly died out duringWorld War II . Due to dough rationing , peppermint pig disappeared from shelf , and it was n’t until 1988 that local confect - shaper Mike Fitzgerald animate the treat . His company Saratoga Sweets prioritise tradition in their peppermint pig yield : The candies contain all the original ingredients , and they ’re even made using casts of the century - old mould .
Today peppermint pigs are sell through catalogs , museum gift shops , and stores on the East Coast . you’re able to also corrupt your own confect pigonline .
