NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – It started with one. Then another Christmas, another nutcracker, and another, and another. Friends and family kept giving New Orleans Tourism and Marketing chief Mark Romig so many nutcrackers that now he has a collection of 102– each one unique.
According to various sources, nutcrackers originated in Europe during the Middle Ages. Initially, they were functional. But as the artistry grew, nutcrackers became collectors’ items for show–not for cracking nuts. Elaborate nutcrackers were crafted in Germany, and eventually, the custom of displaying them at Christmas came to America.
Romig says he takes his collection out of storage every year after Thanksgiving and displays his wooden friends around the house until January 6, the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of Carnival.
Although Romig’s one hundred-plus- two nutcrackers may seem like a lot, the Nutcracker Museum in Leavenworth, Washington (yes, there really is a nutcracker museum) claims to have more than 6,000.