In addition to Nativity scenes, I also collect nutcrackers. However, like my Nativities, I don't collect super fancy or expensive ones. Stuff like that wouldn't fit in at my house anyway, so it's just as well. I've been collecting nutcrackers for ten years now, but I only add one new one each year.
The one pictured above is the newest. Rick and the boys gave it to me the other day. They know how much I love pirates. Well, I don't really love pirates in that sense of the word, although Johnny Depp doesn't make it easy. It's more of a fascination, especially the Golden Age of Piracy.
Below is a picture of the nutcrackers we have so far. Every Christmas we put them on top of a shelf that holds CDs and DVDs. It's getting crowded now, so I might have to find a new place next year. As you can see, we now have two pirate nutcrackers. The fourth one from the right is more of a Captain Jack Sparrow one. The one on the right of him is a Hawaiian one. That was the year Nichelle did her missionary work and spent some time in Maui.
Nutcrackers have been around since the 15th century. Originally, they were made strong enough to crack open nuts, unlike the ones we find today that are for decorative purposes only. Of course, the ones I have are the cheap type you find at Target for $10 or so. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to collect a Steinbach nutcracker ... or two ... or three.
I've got four--they used to terrorize my kids, who were scared by the strange opening and closing of the mouths. heh heh. I tried it on the dog, but she just tries to eat their beards.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
LOL Danette! My boys can't get them out every Christmas without being goofy. We also have some smaller ones that are ornaments and they do the same thing with them. They run around chomping the mouths saying, "Ommmm, ommmm, ommmm!"
ReplyDeleteWe started to collect nutcrackers three years ago when my daughter started performing in her ballet school's yearly production of The Nutcracker.
ReplyDeleteShe gets to pick one out, and I label on the bottom what year and what parts she had!
I have one nutcracker around here from when I was a boy I thought it would be cool to collect them but I stopped at one funny
ReplyDeleteSomeday if I ever get to Germany I'd love to buy a handcrafted one. They are so cool.
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