It started with a pickle.

To be exact, a green glass pickle ornament. (My cat later knocked off the tree, shattering it but that's a tale for a different day.)

The friend who gave me the ornament said it was a symbol of good luck. As the legend goes, whoever finds the pickle first receives a year of good luck (and a prize) for finding it. While I later learned that the tale may be simply good marketing by an ingenious salesman, more on that below, I still love the idea that something so humble can lead to something good if you believe. I even bought a new one to replace the one that the cat had decided was a good play toy.

That's the great thing about ornaments — the bring back memories, bring family and friends to mind — they connect to both the past and the future.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Classic balls and shapes of all colors and material. Ones that pay tribute to favorite movie and television characters. And ones that capture legends and stories from the past to carry them into the future.

Below are a few "tradition" ornaments, as well as their meaning:

• The unicorn — "Solitary, swift and graceful," the unicorn is said to have ignored Noah’s call, choosing to play in the rains signaling the coming flood. Ornaments bring about reminders of this time, according to Bronners.

• The pickle — While one tale says attributes the tradition of a Christmas pickle ornament to an old German symbol of good luck, another says it recalls a starving Civil War soldier who survived by each one. While it's likely the ornament's popularity can be traced to a salesman concocted the stories to promote sales, pickle ornaments have since become a treasured tradition in families where the first one to spot it receiving a special gift or treat.

• The spider — Stories and theories also abound about the origins behind spider ornaments, according to Christmasgals.com. However, the website said most of them center around the idea that spiders are consider lucky in many cultures.

One story has it that spiders took pity on a poor family and decorated their tree with webs, which magically transformed into silver and gold by morning. Another is that after a family cleaned every inch of their home before Jesus' arrival, spiders crept down to get a closer look. When Jesus arrived to bless the home, he transformed the webs left behind into tinsel.

• The donkey's cross — Legend has it that the donkey which carried Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday followed him to Calvary. Refusing to leave, it is said the shadow of the cross fell across the donkey's back — a marking found on many donkeys today, according to Bronners. Donkey ornaments pay tribute to that love and devotion, the website states.

• Christmas rose — According to Bonners, legend has it that a lowly shepherdess wept at the manger because she had no gift for the baby Jesus. Her tears fell to the earth and were miraculously transformed into a rosebush in bloom. 

• The cardinal — Long thought to be a symbol of good luck, according to the christmasgals.com, the bird's bright red feathers have earned it the title of the Christmas bird. According to the website, legend says the cardinal's feathers were made red as a symbol of Christ's blood.

• The acorn — In Germany, the acorn is considered to be a symbol of good luck and the oak tree a sacred symbol, according to christmasgals.com. The acorn ornament pays homage to both and is "a reminder that great things can come from humble beginnings."

• The rooster — According to christmasgals.com, the rooster is considered to be an important symbol during the Christmas season in many Spanish and Latin American countries. Legend has it that the rooster only crowed at midnight once — the night Jesus was born, the website notes — and thus, it symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.

• The pig — Having a pig to eat during the long winter months was thought to be a sign of wealth and good fortune, according to christmasgals.com. As a result, the website notes it is now tradition to display a pig ornament to attract good fortune in the coming year.

• The frog — Frogs have been revered as a symbol of good luck in Chinese culture for centuries. Christmasgals.com reports that such ornaments are thought to bring good luck and prosperity.

• The pineapple — Once the treat of kings due to their rarity and expense of transporting them from the New World to Europe, pineapple ornaments have come to symbolize the ultimate in friendship and hospitality, according to the website, Ornaments 2 Remember.

• The bear — A symbol of strength and bravery, bear ornaments symbolize resurrection and the power of life over death due to their ability to hibernate, according to the Christmas Chalet website.

• The camel — Legend has it the Wise Men traveled to Bethlehem in a caravan of camels. According to Christmas Chalet, the camel ornament recalls the legend of the smallest camel which preserved despite its exhaustion because it was determined to see the Christ Child.

    Long thought to be a symbol of good luck, according to the christmasgals.com, the bird's bright red feathers have earned it the title of the Christmas bird.
  

    According to Christmas websites, the acorn ornament is a symbol of good luck and a reminder that great things can come from humble beginnings.