Author: Arlene Wagner

Publisher/Date: Collectors Press – Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum (2005, 1st US}

Format/Condition: New large hardcover book with dust jacket is in near fine condition: bumped corner [can not be seen in photo]. 188 pages; profusely illustrated with color photos. Measures 12 ½ x 10 inches. Illustrated endpapers

Description: The little bearded figure Godfather Drosselmeier presents in The Nutcracker is probably what comes to mind when speaking of cracking walnuts, but this seemingly simple chore has in fact begat endless variations on the device. Dogs’ heads, elephants’ trunks, and clenched fists have all done duty as screw-type nutcrackers. Cast iron dragons, brass courtesans, and objects resembling surgical pincers have been employed among plier-type designs, as well as any number of plungers, levers, and gavels—not to mention many, many versions of the traditional little fellow with the big mouth. Some are elegant in their simplicity, or their mechanical curiosity, while some are so delightfully fashioned they can only be considered works of art.

This illustrated volume presents nutcrackers and other nutty accessories in hundreds of color photographs—most are from Europe and America, made from the 15th century to the present.