The Nutcracker Suite Ornaments
range in height from 7 to 8 inches tall. The Christmas Ornament Sets include Clara, Heir Drosselmeyer, the Mouse King and the Prince. Each of the ornaments hangs from a gold cord. Clara is wearing a pink dress with ivory lace on the sleeves. The skirt is pink satin under pink net that is decorated with pink and ivory flowers and bows. The skirt has a pink satin ruffle hem. Clara is admiring the handsome Nutcracker Prince her Godfather has given her for Christmas. Heir Drosselmeyer is dressed in a black bicorn hat with gold trim and a silver emblem with a red plastic gem in the center and a patch over one eye. His uniform consists of a white cravat, green jacket with gold frog closures and pink ruffled cuffs over a green waist coat, blue knickers with white stockings and blue, pilgrim style, shoes with gold buckles. His cape is dark red embossed velvet accented with gold braid trim and edged with white faux fur. He is holding a small nutcracker in his left hand. The Mouse King Nutcracker Ornaments costume consists of a gold crown with a lavender center. The crown is decorated with red and jade colored dots that represent jewels. His lavender uniform jacket has red epaulettes, jade and gold frog closures gold and black trim and tied at the waist by a maroon velvet belt with yellow tassels with a white cravat at his neck. His white trousers are tucked into tall black boots with gold tassels. He has a long black, embossed velvet cape accented with gold and black braid trim and white faux fur. He is holding a silver sword in his left hand. The Princes costume consists of a mitre style, black and gold crown, red uniform accented with gold epaulettes, white lace cravat, gold frog closures and gold designs around the cuffs, on the jacket front and on the front of his trousers which are tucked into tall black boots. His cape is red velvet accented with gold rick rack trim and white faux fur. He is holding a silver sword with black hilt. Select to see a complete listing of our Christmas Decorations Ideas.

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 Wooden Nutcrackers Soldiers.
The literary career of the nutcracker began with the 1816 publication of E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy tale Nussknacker und Mausekönig, 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 Christmas Nutcrackers Village People.
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.
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 an 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.