Nutcracker Museum

2nd Quarter Newsletter 2022

for the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum

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No other tool or collectible has shown such a diversity of materials and design as that of the nutcracker. It is impossible learn everything about nutcrackers, yet that is exactly the challenge the next Nutcracker Lady faces, and yes, Michelle McMullen is ready for the task.

Michelle decided she would like to learn all about nutcrackers when she first stepped into her job at the museum. Seeing Michelle’s passion for the many nutcrackers displayed caught my attention, and the more I learned about Michelle, the more I felt like she would make an excellent Nutcracker Lady Number Two. So we started training. She already knew the ins and outs of retail management, and quickly learned about the day-to-day operation of the museum but then the hard part began.

She first learned to identify each nut opener by the way the nut was cracked-- by percussion which cracks the nut with a hard blow, the screw by which you can control the pressure, or by the more common direct and indirect levers. The direct pressure lever breaks the nut between the fulcrum and the hand, and the indirect lever breaks the nut, on the other side of the fulcrum, like a pair of pliers.

Then Michelle studied by material, especially the different kinds of wood or metals the nutcrackers are made of. We made a chart showing each way the nut was cracked using different kinds of metals or woods: PERCUSSION with stainless steel and conifer wood, SCREW with silver plate and oak wood, DIRECT LEVER with aluminum and linden wood, and INDIRECT with brass and spruce wood.

	CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Percussion - Stainless Steel	Percussion - Conifer Wood	Direct - Aluminum	Direct - Linden Wood
Indirect - Brass	Indirect - Spruce Wood	Screw - Oak Wood	Screw - Silver Plated

We have over 40 makers, past and present, of turned wooden toy soldier nutcrackers in the museum. To identify these Michelle learned to study the body style first, then the wood, the base, the feet, and yes, even the eyebrows, mustache and number of teeth.

	CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Peterson	Glasser	Fuchtner	Gunter Ulbricht
Roscher	Seiffner Volkunst	Christian Ulbricht	Vero

But the most difficult task ahead for Michelle will be unlocking the mysteries of the intricate and delicate old antiques. Michelle will be studying these all the years she is Nutcracker Lady Number 2. Hopefully by the time she trains her successor she will have even more to teach. In the next newsletter we will learn more of Michelle’s training.

Arlene Wagner, The Nutcracker Lady Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum Email: curator@nutcrackermuseum.com