Were nutcrackers good luck charms?
Maybe your grandmother collected traditional holiday nutcrackers, which look like soldiers; and everyone knows the ballet in which one of these man-shaped gadgets becomes human on Christmas Eve. But how did nutcrackers come to be associated with the holiday, one of the Christmas traditions from around the world we follow today? A tool to open nuts is a necessity, and according to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Washington state, woodcarvers in Europe were creating them in the shape of people by the 15th century. According to the German Christmas Museum (Weihnachtsmuseum) in Rothenburg, Germany, the nutcracker's association with Christmas may be due to needing the gadgets to cracks nuts, a common fall treat, for baking at this time of year.
German legend has it, says the BBC, that the traditional nutcrackers brought good luck. Carving kings, soldiers, or policemen also had a hidden political meaning, suggests the Weihnachtsmuseum: to mock those in authority. In the 19th century, Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet furthered interest in the decorative items, and they started being mass-produced in 1872 by the "father of the nutcracker," German Wilheim Fuchtner. About 30 pieces are needed to make a wooden nutcracker, the Weihnachtsmuseum says. Another family who originally made the nutcracker in Germany, the Steinbachs, still makes them for holiday gifts today. The gingerbread man, too, has a storied history.
Christmas Trivia You Probably Didn't Know, Source:https://www.rd.com/list/christmas-trivia/
