Family Traditions-What are yours?

What sort of information is important to collect on our ancestors?  There are the obvious items such as birth/death certificates, obituaries, marriage certificates, baptismal records, etc.  But did you know that collecting family traditions might be important too?  

We've all heard an elderly family member say, "We are descended from... Danish nobility, a notorious criminal, an Indian Princess."  It's really a fill in the blank situation.  Or do you have a family tradition of looking for the pickle on the Christmas tree?  Don't dismiss your family traditions out of hand.  You may not be descended from Danish nobility, but perhaps a member of Danish nobility stayed in a inn run by your ancestors or an ancestor might have known a notorious criminal in their childhood. 

Many times family legends are loosely based in some fact.  And holiday traditions such as looking for the pickle on the Christmas tree come from ancestor's home lands.  Looking for the pickle on the tree is a tradition even today in most German households.  Just remember that the "fun" parts of our history makes the hard work worthwhile.

GM