Christmas Nutcrackers History
In general Nutcrackers are an aid or tool to open nuts. The first nutcrackers in the antiquity still consisted of two lever arms already. For the invention of the nutcrackers Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 3rd century, is made responsible. Nutcrackers of bronze from the time at 300 before Christ were found in a grave at “Tarent”.
At that time those from the lower layers which couldn't afford such a nutcracker must use either a hammer or their teeth to open the nuts. Even Leonardo daVinci shall have worked at such a piece of equipment to open nuts. At least he designed a lathe with which one wooden figures could be designed. Provably figurative nutcrackers existed already in the 16th century. So even Heinrich VIII, king of England, gave a carved nutcracker to his second wife Anna Boleyn. The blossom of the artistic wood figures which at first were manufactured in the “Grödnertal” and in “Oberammergau” started in the 18th century. While the people in south Tyrol preferred funny people, Bavarian habitants produced more Middle Eastern figures.
After abandonment the mining in the year of 1800 the habitants Ore Mountains looked after a new source of income. They convert to the woodturning. Nutcrackers were also produced besides ordinary wood figures. The people preferred mountain men, gendarmes, soldiers and kings as nutcrackers. It isn’t sure if the gigantic mouth of the nutcrackers should awe respect or if it was a caricature of authority persons. But in every case it is proved that after the people’s battle at Leipzig Napoleon was depicted as nutcracker, like a bit later Bismarck. In the 19th century nutcrackers were sold on Christmas fairs and also were regarded as children's toys. Also designers discovered the nutcrackers in the phase of the Art Nouveau. Today nutcrackers are regarded as collectibles and have usually no more cracking function
But the nutcrackers got also famous in the literary world. For example the Christmas fairytale "Nutcrackers and mouse king" which was written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann and the ballet "The nutcrackers" written by Peter Tchaikovsky made the Nutcrackers famous. Here you find a website over christmas smoker.