This 4 inch Trumpet Playing Military Bear
is dressed in a red coat, blue pants, and gold trimmed band uniform. These Unique Christmas Ornaments are ready for a parade with his black polished boots and belt buckle. There is a green and gold banner hanging from a gold hoop on the little bears trumpet. This Christmas Ornament is made of durable resin. The Nutcracker Ornaments hang on your tree by a gold cord or stand alone on your fireplace mantle or a shelf. Select to see a complete listing of our Christmas Decorations Ideas.

Regimental Dress.
The styles and decoration of military uniforms varied immensely with the status, image and funds of the military throughout the ages. Uniform dress became the norm with the adoption of regimental systems, initially by the French Army in the mid seventeenth century. Some Swedish infantry had been issued with standard coloured dress under Gustavus Adophus. However in the main the levies of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries wore civilian dress with scarves, pieces of foliage or other makeshift identification. Even Royal guards would only be issued with surcoats to wear over ordinary clothing. Select this link to view our Unique Christmas Ornaments.

During the Eighteenth Century.
The normal military uniform comprised a standardized form of civilian dress (tricorn hat, long-skirted coat, waistcoat and breeches). One distinctively military feature was the long canvas gaiters which came up to mid-thigh and had multiple buttons. Dress was surprisingly standard between European armies in cut and general outline. The distinction normally lay in colours, red coats for the British and Danes, light gray then white for the French, Spanish and Austrian infantry, dark blue for the Prussians, green for the Russians etc. Within armies different regiments were usually distinguished by "facings" or turn backs and braiding on coats in colours that were distinctive to one or several regiments. Thus the Royal Comtois Infantry Regiment of the French Army, for example, had large dark blue cuffs on off white coats. Select this link to view our Wooden Nutcracker Soldiers.

Nineteenth Century.
The ornamental peak of the military uniform was reached in the early 19th century in Western Europe. Sometimes the Napoleonic Wars are identified as being the acme of colorful and ornate uniforms, but actually the several decades of peace that followed were a time of much more decorative styles and embellishments. The Napoleonic soldier on campaign was likely to present a shabby and non-descript appearance as unsuitable peacetime dress quickly deteriorated or was replaced with whatever local substitutes were available. Until later on in the century dyes were primitive and different batches of uniforms worn by the same unit might present differing shades, especially after exposure to rain and sun. The white uniforms popular amongst many armies through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries soiled easily and had to be pipe clayed to retain any semblance of cleanliness. Green as worn by Jager and Rifle regiments proved particularly prone to fading until suitable chemical dyes were devised in the 1890s. British soldiers were known for their striking red clothing (hence the name “Redcoats”). This was actually a fairly dull shade of madder red until the general adoption of scarlet for tunics in the 1870s. Select this link to view our Christmas Nutcracker Village People.