""I had no idea it would turn into this,""
""We were looking for the nutcracker for [the protagonist] Clara to hold and we found all of these big mouthed, crunchy guys, and so we started collecting them,""
""That's when we got introduced to the porcelain ones and the old metal ones,""
""We were so taken!""
The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Leavenworth, Washington, holds more than 9,000 handcrafted nutcrackers, including one dated to 200 AD. Arlene Wagner curates the collection and greets visitors seated at the museum entrance wearing a pearl necklace and a traditional German dirndl. Wagner began collecting in 1976 while directing a ballet production of The Nutcracker, seeking a prop for Clara and acquiring toy-soldier types. Later antique porcelain and metal nutcrackers expanded the collection after discoveries at an antique show in Portland and trips to Europe with her late husband, George Wagner. The collection grew through estate sales, auctions, and dedicated collecting.
Read at www.npr.org
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