Nutcracker Museum

About this activity

The Nutcracker Museum is certainly worth a visit when in Leavenworth, if not just for the charming nature of what it's all about!

This family museum is dedicated to telling the importance of nuts in the diets of humans throughout history and in the evolution of the nutcracker! Yes, you read that right! In fact, when you do visit, you might just be surprised in how many different varities of nutcrackers there actually are!

The beautiful and colorful displays in the Nutcracker Museum showcase the different styles of wooden toy soldier nutcrackers. Kids will be able to look at the Betel cutters from all the way across the world in Asia, as well as the the beautifully carved wooden figurals from Europe - AND the very precious ivory and porcelains.

If that wasn't enough, you can also see with your own eyes the silver that matched the Victorian tableware, as well as the conventional utility type strong enough to conquer the stubborn black walnut!.

What's interesting about the nutcrackers is that their style changes dramatically - you might find hand-held metal nutcrackers in beautiful designs, and then these sit next to crudely crafted nutcrackers in blacksmith shops.

There are even beautifully carved ebony and boxwood figures which are so durable they have withstood hundreds of years! If you love history, don't miss the artifacts found in the southeastern USA and Europe which date back thousands of years.

I bet you never realised how many ways you could crack a nut! This is something else you'll learn at the Nutcracker Museum! Did you know there's the direct pressure, indirect pressure, screw, and percussion, and you will find them all in the Nutcracker Museum.

After all it's been said that the creativity of humans are vividly portrayed in the many ways they used to crack a nut!