The magical nutcracker men were first made in the 15th century, part of the traditional woodcarving industry of Germany's pine forest areas. Originally, they were dressed in soldiers' outfits and sturdily designed so that the user could place a nut in the mouth and push a lever in the back to crack it, but now they are mainly decorative and come in all kinds of outfits, from Santa Claus to Herr Drosselmeyer himself.

Steinbach is one of the oldest and certainly the best-known maker of nutcrackers; today they still produce their hand-carved pieces at Hohenhameln in Germany and export them all over the world. Perhaps a Sherlock Holmes nutcracker will take your fancy, or even a Disney character... but of course there is always the traditional soldier variety which, if kept by your Christmas tree, might whisk you off to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy at midnight on Christmas Eve!

Available online here.

Written by  larapiegeler.

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