This Musical Nutcracker
is 13 inches tall including the 2¾ inch tall Musical stand. The Drummer is wearing a black and gold Kepi style hat, red uniform jacket with gold and green epaulettes, gold front and black belt. The Wooden Nutcrackers Soldiers trousers are white and gold striped and his boots are black with gold tops. The Drummers arms move up and down to the beat of ‘The Little Drummer Boy.’ The Musical Nutcracker stands on a small green rectangular wood base which is atop a larger blue and gold wood base with gold wooden feet. The larger base of the Christmas Nutcracker Decorations houses the musical mechanism. The winding key is underneath this base. PLEASE DO NOT OVER WIND the musical box! Select to see a complete listing of our wonderful Christmas Decorations Ideas.
The History Of Nutcrackers
A nutcracker is a device for cracking nuts. It works on the principle of moments derived from Archimedes' discovery of the lever. Nutcrackers as woodcarvings of a soldier, knight, king, or other profession have been known since at least the 15th century. These nutcrackers are carvings of a person with a big mouth that is opened by pressing a lever in the back of the figurine. Originally one could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. The modern Wooden Nutcracker Soldiers in this style are mostly for decoration and not for cracking hard shelled nuts. The carving of Wooden Nutcracker Soldiers as well as religious figures and cribs developed as a cottage industry in forested rural areas of Germany. The most famous nutcracker carvings come from Sonneberg, Thuringia, also a center of doll making, and from the Ore Mountains. Wood carving was usually the only income for the people living there. Today the travel industry bringing visitors to the remote areas supplement their income.
Nutcrackers have become popular in the United States as well and a recreated "Bavarian village" of Leavenworth, Washington even features a Nutcracker Museum. Many other materials were used for the decorated nutcrackers, such as porcelain, silver, and brass, and can be seen at the museum. Select this link to view our Christmas Nutcrackers Village People.
Carvings by famous names like Jungbanel, Mertens, Karl, Kolbe, Petersen, Ulbricht and especially the Steinbach nutcrackers have become collectors' items. Select this link to view our Large Nutcrackers.
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 turnbacks 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 its off-white coats. Select this link to view our Nutcrackers and The Nutcracker Story.
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 colored 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 Wooden Nutcracker Ornaments to hang on your Christmas tree.
