Nutcrackers -when did they get popular?

[TrickyD]

I am of course familiar with the “Nutcracker Suite”, but when, why and how did the Nutcracker figures become so popular?
A bit of googling suggests they have been a ‘good luck’ charm in Germany for many years, but I am baffled as to how they have taken over the Christmas shop shelves so quickly over here.

Another layer of tat.

I started seeing them in shops about 10 years ago. I have a pair that used to go either end of my mantel. My kids like them because there is a lever in their backs that opens and closes their mouths. Mine are from B&M.

I don't know, I haven't noticed the Nutcrackers. Fiveyears ago everything had a pineapple on then everything had a flamingo on then a cactus. It's fascinating.

I'm looking for pyjamas at the moment and every shop seems to have Mickey Mouse pyjamas which I could understand if there was a new film or something but I don't think there is.

They're not exactly tat (unless shoddily put together). They are a perfectly normal European Christmas item.

Yes, retailers and and manufacturers want us to buy more - hence Elf on the Shelf and Xmas Eve boxes/hampers.

I think it was when the German Christmas Markets began to come here.

As Christmas tat goes, I rather like nutcrackers (though I might have only seen them in TK Maxx over here).

A Caribbean hotel we stayed at one year had a pair about 3ft high, guarding a doorway. They looked really lovely.

I thought they’d always been popular- well for a couple of centuries. I think it was post WW2 that they became far more widespread but I’d have thought most middle class children were taken to see the Nutcracker as a Christmas treat for decades.

It's strange isn't it, I've noticed them being everywhere the last couple of years. I think it's just another 'Christmassy' thing that retailers can sell us. I don't like them at all, they're creepy.

My Grandma had a large collection of them, so not a new item if you are from Austria/Germany. How can they be tat? They are usually well made and last longer than one year. I'd much rather get upset about plastic rubbish that is designed to be thrown away after one use.

Seeing the “Nutcracker” at Christmas is one thing, Cherrypavlova, seeing nutcrackers everywhere is another.
I was probably unkind to call them tat. Just a means of getting us to spend more.

We had them as children, brought back from Germany. Beautifully hand made. It reappears every year, 30yrs on.

Least tatty things ever

I have 2 that are about 3 feet tall - they're wood and nicely painted (though weren't expensive- had them about 15 years)

Nutcrackers have been on the shelves for years around here. Some of them are tat. Others are quite nice and well made.

I find them a bit creepy.

There was, I think, an episode of Marie Kondo's Netflix show, where the homeowner had hundreds of them as Christmas decor and nowhere to store them for the rest of the year.

Don't buy them then. Person I don't like pink, white or multicoloured Christmas trees. I don't have one. Some people have themed decorations. We don't. We have a nativity scene. Other people don't. Some people have 'tasteful' decorations. We have a random mix of slightly bizarre ones, including dinosaurs, animals, a London bus, a cactus...

Just have stuff that makes you happy. And try to reuse it every year.

I love good quality nutcrackers. Been collecting them for a few years now.

We were taken to see the nutcracker ballet every Christmas when we were children so my family have always had nutcrackers as decorations.

They're painted wooden decorations so not quite sure why you think they are "tat"

Hilarious! Of all the tat at Xmas, surely the classic German nutcracker, inspired by the gorgeous ballet is one of the least tat crap things ever!
My tree has been inspired by the nutcracker for years, red velvet for the curtain of the opera house, some characters, ballet dancers... Swirls of deep red ribbon from Paris, candy canes.. Etc.

It's devine

Had our nutcracker for years, now the 6 ft ones are popular. Costco had a lot of them last year, some played music, some with a drum. I agree they must be the devil to store. Ours has a bit of a wobbly mouth now victim of a small child years ago. I like my little nutcracker.

I'm 43 and spent most of my childhood in Germany. They were definitely a thing then. My mum has loads. I want the giant Costco ones but dh is not enthusiastic (he moaned enough about the 2ft Frankenstein's monster who "followed" me home last time). My kids love them.

I think the increase in Christmas films has helped popularise them . Then seem to be a part of the US Christmas, prof the German influence