It all started with the Mouse King.
Kenn Whiteman was on a trip to Edmonton when he spotted a nutcracker in a store. Whiskered, standing around two feet tall and sporting a cape, crown and sword, the detail of the traditional Christmas decoration drew WhitemanB次元官网网址檚 eye and he brought it home.
Now, 45 years later, his collection of nutcrackers numbers 263, and takes up the dining room, living room and front entrance table of his Port Alberni home.
Nutcrackers were historically just that: implements used to crack the hard shells of nuts. The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum has a bronze Roman nutcracker from between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. The first wooden nutcrackers carved in the likeness of humans or animals originated in several European countries in the 18th and 19th centuries. Wilhelm Fuchner from Germany created the first commercial nutcracker in 1872. He is known as B次元官网网址渢he father of the Nutcracker.B次元官网网址�
Although the mouths work on each of WhitemanB次元官网网址檚 nutcrackers, most of them are decorative and not used to crack shelled nuts. B次元官网网址淓ach one is like a work of art,B次元官网网址� he said. He pulled up a NoahB次元官网网址檚 Ark nutcracker complete with paired animals around the base as an example. It is one of his favourites, he admitted, along with a ringmaster and a surfer.
B次元官网网址淲hen you look at them thereB次元官网网址檚 so much detail.B次元官网网址�
Most of the nutcrackers in WhitemanB次元官网网址檚 collection were made in China. He bought many of them from different stores throughout the years.
B次元官网网址淲e were down in Leavenworth, Washington. I tell you, the nutcrackers down thereB次元官网网址� I had to leave, I couldnB次元官网网址檛 stand it. There were literally thousands of them. They had Batman, SpidermanB次元官网网址 could just see my paycheques going out the window,B次元官网网址� he related.
Some of them have dates on the bottom so he knows when he picked them up. Some of them are gifts from friends who brought them back from their own travels, including one that came from Germany.
Some of the nutcrackers are musical, some are on rockers, sleds or rollers. Some are only a few inches tall, and one solid wood nutcracker is almost as tall as Whiteman. Nutcracker themes range from the three wise men to RCMP officers, a Scottish bagpiper, Henry VIII, stylish ladies and 18-inch-tall characters from the Wizard of OzB次元官网网址攁ll but the lion, which Whiteman could never find. B次元官网网址淲henever IB次元官网网址檓 at garage sales or in antique shops IB次元官网网址檓 always looking to finish off some of the collections.
B次元官网网址淭here are quite a few hockey players kicking around,B次元官网网址� he said. There are also some doubles, purchased inadvertently: with such a large collection heB次元官网网址檚 forgotten a few, he admitted.
It has been a few years since Whiteman has had the whole collection out at once: he has rotated them in his Christmas display over the past few years.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e seen them all, but you look at them again and think, B次元官网网址榯heyB次元官网网址檙e so nice,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� WhitemanB次元官网网址檚 wife Linda said, going through the hundred or so nutcrackers filling her dining room table, sideboard and floor.
The magic and fantasy of the nutcracker was first featured in an 1816 German story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by E.T.A. Hoffmann. B次元官网网址淎t the same time that he was doing that, Alexandre Dumas was in France and he was working on a nutcracker theme,B次元官网网址� Whiteman said. Dumas adapted HoffmannB次元官网网址檚 darker fairytale into a childrenB次元官网网址檚 fantasy.
B次元官网网址淭hen Tchaikovsky in the 19th century wrote the famous ballet, The Nutcracker. ItB次元官网网址檚 been going on for 200 years, nutcrackers. Then in 1950 the nutcracker at Christmas became an American tradition.B次元官网网址�
After enjoying his collection for 45 yearsB次元官网网址攁nd this year giving himself a hernia lifting the many plastic tubs of nutcrackers from their storage spaceB次元官网网址擶hiteman says itB次元官网网址檚 time to pass them on to someone else.
The Whitemans are hoping someone will purchase the nutrackers as a set and put them on display somewhere. B次元官网网址淢aybe to a hotel or a lodge,B次元官网网址� said Linda. B次元官网网址淏次元官网网址cLean Mill would be a great place.B次元官网网址�
Whiteman hadnB次元官网网址檛 decided on how much the collection is worth, but said heB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渆asilyB次元官网网址� spent $10,000 on nutcrackers over the years.
Whiteman said he will hang onto a few of the nutcrackers that have sentimental meaning. Now heB次元官网网址檚 ready to pass on the magic and wonder to someone else.
