Nutcrackers used to be just that – nut crackers. Made of metal, they resembled present-day pliers.
Around the 15th-16th centuries wood-workers began creating nutcrackers that were both functional and attractive, carved in the likeness of humans and animals.
In the 1830s the word ‘nussknacker’ appeared in the famous Grimm brothers’ German dictionary. Carved in a human likeness, the ‘nussknacker’ was often defined in the form of a misshaped little man, in whose mouth the nut, by means of a leaver or screw, was cracked open.
By the mid-19th century, nutcrackers began resembling the figures we know today. In the mid-1860s a German wood-worker named Wilhelm Fuchtner began commercially producing and selling nutcrackers. His model was based on a character in the children’s book King Nutcracker and Poor Reinhold by E T A Hoffmann.
1892 saw the debut of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet The Nutcracker. The ballet being set on Christmas Eve and the hero a nutcracker that came to life, nutcrackers thereafter became associated with festive decor.
According to German folklore, nutcrackers were given as keepsakes to bring good luck to families and to protect their homes. It's commonly said nutcrackers represent power and strength, guarding families from danger and bad spirits. The nutcracker bares its teeth to ward off evil spirits and serves as a traditional messenger of goodwill. In spite of their somewhat fierce appearance, their role is to protect hearth and home and bring good luck.
