Royal Soldier

The Royal Soldier is 10 inches tall. The Royal Soldier is wearing a tall shako style hat, except there is no plume, with gold trim, blue glittered jacket with red and gold trim and red jewels in gold settings, gold cuffs, red glittered pants with gold cuffs and black boots. The Royal Soldier has a silver sword with gold hilt attached to his left side. Select this link to view our Wooden Nutcracker Soldiers.

Grenadier Soldiers.
The wide hats with broad brims characteristic of infantry during the late 17th century were discarded and replaced with caps. This was originally to allow the grenadier to sling his musket over his back with greater ease while throwing grenades (initially, only these troops were provided with slings). Additionally, a brimless hat permitted the grenadier greater ease in throwing the grenade overhand. By 1700, grenadiers in the English and other armies had adopted a cap in the shape of a bishop's mitre, usually decorated with the regimental insignia in embroidered cloth. In addition to grenades, they were equipped with contemporary longarms. The uniform included a belt tube that held the match for lighting the fuse; this feature was retained in later grenadier uniforms. Select this link to view our Fisherman Nutcrackers.

The Story of The Nutcracker
The combination of a useful tool and a figural form with a human appearance was well accepted by the mid 18th century. In the toy making center of Sonneberg, in the Thuringian Forest, there was mention in 1735 of nut biters that operated according to the principles of leverage. These nut biters were described as sturdy, energetic forms with large heads. Two moving arms on the back of the head allowed the lower jaw to push the nut against the upper jaw. In a carnival parade in 1783, students from Freisingen, Germany presented large models of Berchtesgaden wares, including a nut biter in the form of a little man whose mouth and stomach were one and the same. Select this link to view our Palace Guard Nutcracker.
The literary career of the nutcracker began with the 1816 publication of E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy tale Nussknacker und Mausek�nig, a children's book that helped bring the nutcracker into broader popularity. In the spirit of a time when the importance of the family and children was beginning to be emphasized, Hoffmann vividly depicted a sympathetic soul, Under the Christmas tree a very excellent little man became visible that stood there still and modest. He waited as if they would all come to him. The job of the nutcracker was to work hard for the children of the family by biting open the nuts. Select this link to view our Soldier Bear Nutcrackers.
Thirty five years after the publication of E.T.A. Hoffmann's classic, the nutcracker reappeared as a central character in Heinrich Hoffmann's story King Nutcracker and the Poor Reinhold 1851. In this story the poor Reinhold becomes acquainted with the Nutcracker King in a dream. Select this link to view our Skiing Nutcrackers.
The nutcracker did not always play the role of the good-hearted fairy tale king. More often he wore a monk's robe or was made into the form of a mean-looking policeman, a Turk, master of the watch, a cavalry man or some other grotesque helmeted figure with a long nose. He appeared, for example, as a caricature of Napoleon on a 1813 Parisian picture-sheet. By the end of the 19th century he appeared almost consistently in the catalogs of the toy wholesalers as a representative of the contemporary authorities. What started out as a practical tool often ended up as an expression of light irony and a social critique by the common people. Select this link to view our Elegant Guardsmen.