History of Nutcrackers:

For thousands of years people have been eating nuts. Perhaps our ancestors knew how healthy nuts and oils are. Even today they are listed as a necessary part of the government’s food pyramid. Archeologists have found pitted stones dating back as far as 8,000 years ago at many sites around the world that may have been used to crack nuts. So after hitting a nut with a rock for a few thousand years, someone came up with the idea of using a small lever to crack a nut open. Some of the oldest nut crackers that have been found which use this lever principle date back to over 400 B.C. And of course artisans like to take a functional design and make it ornate to look more stylish and to be able to sell it for more to the wealthy clients. Over time different types of metals were used in making nut crackers, but then people started making wooden nutcrackers. Within a short time, some of the carvings in Germany and Austria took on the look of people in positions of authority, such as kings, soldiers or policemen. Go here to view more Christmas Nutcracker Decorations.

The Nutcracker Ballet:

Tchaikovskys, The Nutcracker Ballet was first performed in Saint Petersburg, in December of 1892. The ballet was based from The Nutcracker and The Mouse King, which was a story written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816. Its story about a young girl named Clara who receives a strong royal prince nutcracker for a Christmas present and has a magical dream that night. In her dream the Mouse King wants to kidnap her but she is saved by the Prince, who takes her to his palace. Along the way she sees and meets wonderful and magical creatures, but upon waking the next morning all is as it was before the dream. England in 1934 was the first country outside of Russia to perform the ballet. Ten years later it made its debut in the United States on the west coast in San Francisco and another ten years in 1954 before it made its way to Broadway on the east coast. More Christmas Decorations Ideas are here.

Modern Nutcrackers:

Today’s wooden figure nutcrackers are mostly decorative in nature and are not used to actually break open any nuts. In the late 1800’s Wilhelm Friedrich Fuchtner from the Saxony region in Germany was using his lathe to make many nutcracker soldier of a similar design. These were sold at Christmas markets, such as the world famous Striezelmarkt in Dresden, Germany, which was happening long before Columbus discovered the Americas. Germany still produces some of the finest hand crafted nutcrackers in the world. To learn more about Nutcrackers and The Nutcracker Story go here.