The Nutcracker ~

The nutcracker phenomenon began life in 1816 as a story by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822).  Entitled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," it was a rather grim tale of an unhappy girl named Marie whose only love is a nutcracker doll.  The story was adapted in 1845 by famed French novelist Alexandre Dumas, who made it more suitable for children.  In 1891 the cheerier version was chosen as the basis of a Russian ballet.
One curious consequence of the ballet's popularity has been to stimulate interest in the collection of nutcrackers.  Though many types of metal and wood nutcrackers were made through the centuries, the commercial production of the popular wooden toy nutcracker dates only from the 1870s in Germany.  The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Washington State exhibits over 3,000 of these implements from around the world.
~THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTMAS, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000



Eyes of Wonder

Photo Files:  Courtesy Michaye Walker

"...the best portion of a good man's life
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of Love."

~ William Wordsworth, English Romantic Poet.  (1770 - 1850) "Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey." 1798.

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