Example of poor canning safety. That is way more than 1/2" headspace :-)

Can't tell...Is there a cap/cork on the bottle?

The fruit got in the bottle by putting the tiny cuke, still growing, into the bottle suspended by wire somewhere above or below. When it got big it was snipped off and vinegar put in the bottle and capped to prevent the liquid from evaporating. Over time your pickle lost some liquid through the cork. Some very fine pear brandy I've tasted had a large pear in it using this method.

Pear in a Bottle

I would dispose of it in the landfill, or keep it as an oddity for your great grand kids to marvel at. It is quite fun, I think.

BTW - botulism won't kill you if you don't eat, drink or inject it (open wound or syringe), and rarely, inhale it. We have botulism spores all around us, in our air, soil, plants, even honey, and it's only when it is confined, without air and in food with a high pH does it become Clostridium botulinum, the botulism toxin. To stop the toxin from developing from the spores you heat food in a pressure canner 244F or more for a certain length of time that kills the spores, or you add a certain amount of acid to it and make a pickle that lowers the pH of the food where the spores can't live. And, it is why I call BWB home canned green beans a jar of death.

In your case the vinegar (supposedly what surrounds it) has most likely lost all its pH lowering ability and the cuke is probably a huge neurotoxin. I would not even try to uncork it. Maybe your local hazardous waste material collection office could dispose of it properly, rather than just throwing it in your home trashcan, unless you take your trash to a landfill and can watch it being smashed in the big hopper.

I'd carefully dispose of it. But If you want to keep it as an oddity, a conversation piece, then I'd make sure it was well labeled as poisonous - do not open etc. so no one in the future decides to "see what happens".

Dave

LoneJack, yes it's a cork in the bottle (which is starting to deteriorate).

Nancy I had (not very long ago) figured out how the pickle got in the jar. Kind of a fun trick. I'm definitely not planning on ever uncorking the bottle, but just worried about accidental breakage, and would it be dangerous. When you say it's probably a huge neurotoxin, I'm starting to think I should try to safely get rid of it.

Dave, good idea to label the bottle. Thanks for giving me your opinion--I was kinda hoping you'd say that it probably presents no danger, but you're probably right.

I would probably try to find a oddity type museum to see if they would be interested in it.... perhaps the Historical society for the county where he lived would be a place to start... then a state historical museum... it probably can be safely "re" preserved. Any of the above organizations maybe able to help you find out if that is possible...

That would be quite the road trip! I'm in Portland, OR and that pickle came from Bellaire, Ohio. But it has been a while since I visited...