Wednesday, May 29, 2002

By Denise Holley           World Staff Writer, Wenatchee World

LEAVENWORTH - Wooden soldiers, cast-iron animal figures and elegant silver implements share the same function: they open wide to crack nutshells and expose the food inside.

Humans have eaten nuts since the beginning of time and fashioned creative tools to crack them open, said Arlene Wagner. She and her husband, George, opened the Nutcracker Museum in 1995 to showcase the history of nut-eating.

The Wagner's have amassed a collection of more than 5,000 decorative nutcrackers from 38 countries. Last Sunday, they held an open house to display the remodeled Museum.

"People will be absolutely fascinated with all the nutcrackers we have here," Arlene Wagner said. "It's a real test of man's ingenuity."

The oldest nutcracker in the museum is made of brass and dates back to the time of Columbus, she said. It was probably found in France. But several nutting bowls in the collection are much older.

"They're just rocks with a hole where the nut is placed, then they hit the nut with another rock," Wagner said. Prehistoric people also used the bowls to grind nuts into meal.

An archeologist who viewed photos of their nutting bowls from Arkansas estimated their age as 4,000 to 8,000 years old, Wagner said.

"Only recently have they (nuts) been shelled and given to us in plastic bags," Wagner said.

By the 15th century in Europe, people ate nuts, often with fruit, at the end of the meal, Wagner said. The tradition led to the expression "from soup to nuts."

Crafts people carved wooden nutcrackers that became conversation pieces, she said. By the Victorian era, wealthy diners used silver nutcrackers that matched the tableware.

"They're pieces of art," Wagner said.

She and her husband hunt through Europe for more antique nutcrackers to display under glass at the museum. A few weeks ago, they attended a meeting of the European Nutcracker Collectors in Neuhausen, Germany, Wagner said. In March, they visited Christian Steinbach, the German crafter who made many of the toy nutcrackers on display at their museum.

Wagner taught dance for more than 50 years in Wenatchee and Renton and directed productions of "The Nutcracker," she said. She and her students were intrigued with the nutcracker in the ballet and began decorating the studio with antique nutcrackers.

"We have donated all the nutcrackers to this foundation so they will all stay together after we're gone," Wagner said.

Denise Holley can be reached at
664-7148 or by e-mail at holley@wenworld.com