Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum facts for kids
The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, Leavenworth Washington
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| Established | 1995 |
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| Location | 735 Front Street Leavenworth, Washington United States |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Collection size | 9103 nutcrackers |
The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum is a special place in Leavenworth, Washington. It's a museum completely dedicated to nutcrackers and tools used to crack nuts.
Arlene Wagner and her husband George started the museum in 1995. It began with a passion for nutcrackers. By 2023, the museum had over 9,000 nutcrackers! Arlene loved the ballet The Nutcracker. This made her fall in love with nutcrackers. She started collecting them in the 1960s. The museum building looks like a traditional Bavarian house. It has two floors for visitors and covers 5,000 square feet.
Arlene Wagner became known as "the Nutcracker Lady." The museum has been featured on many TV shows. These include Today on NBC and CBS News "Sunday Morning." Arlene even appeared on Conan O'Brien's talk show, Conan.
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The Story of the Nutcracker Museum
The person in charge of the museum is Arlene Wagner. She was born in 1925. Arlene and her husband George opened the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in 1995. It is a non-profit organization. This means it's not run for money.
Arlene used to teach ballet. She also directed shows of The Nutcracker ballet. The museum's website says that Arlene became fascinated with nutcrackers. Just like Clara in the ballet, who loved the wooden figure. Arlene started collecting toy soldiers when she was a child. In the 1960s, she began buying all sorts of nutcrackers.
The museum building is designed in a Bavarian style. It covers a large area of 5,000 square feet.
A Growing Collection
Arlene Wagner earned the nickname "the Nutcracker Lady." In 2000, the museum was shown on the NBC program Today.
In 2003, the museum had 3,028 nutcrackers. By 2007, this number grew to over 5,000 pieces. In 2010, it held more than 6,000 nutcrackers. Some of these date back to the 16th century! By September 2021, the museum was in the Guinness World Records. It had an amazing collection of over 9,000 nutcracking devices.
The museum has nutcrackers from 38 different countries. It holds the largest collection of nutcrackers in the United States. One special nutcracker is named Karl. He was made in Germany and stands six feet tall! Karl was made for Arlene by Karl Roppl. He carved Karl from a single piece of linden wood.
Ancient Nutcrackers
One of the oldest items in the museum is a bronze Roman piece. It dates back to around 200 BC to 200 AD. This ancient tool was found in 1960. Arlene bought it from an antiquities dealer in the Netherlands. The museum got this piece in April 2006.
Arlene Wagner wrote a book called The Art and Character of Nutcrackers. It shows about 1,000 of the nutcrackers from the museum. The museum is open to visitors every day of the year, even on holidays. Arlene and George Wagner traveled all over the world to find nutcrackers for their museum. They looked for very valuable 16th and 17th-century pieces.
Featured on TV
In December 2009, Arlene Wagner and her museum were featured on CBS News' "Sunday Morning" program. A producer from CBS News found the museum online. She contacted Arlene to learn more for the news story. Journalist Rita Braver from CBS interviewed Arlene about the museum. A CBS camera crew filmed inside the museum. They showed its amazing collection.
Arlene said they were very interested in the old nutcrackers. They also wanted to know how the Nutcracker ballet made people start collecting them in America.
Conan O'Brien's First Guest
Arlene Wagner was the very first guest on Conan O'Brien's new TBS show, Conan. This happened on November 8, 2010. Conan O'Brien had an online poll on his website. He asked people to vote for his first guest. Arlene Wagner was on the list with famous people like Jack Nicholson and Lady Gaga.
Conan O'Brien even joked on his Twitter account, "If the Nutcracker lady wins, I'm in trouble." Arlene replied in an interview, "Why would he be in trouble? I think I should do just fine on his show." She said that the show's staff just called her "out of the blue." Arlene wanted to give Conan an Irish nutcracker from her collection as a gift. She also wanted to explain that "Many people think nutcrackers are just for Christmas, but they're not."
See also
- Leavenworth, Washington
- List of museums in Washington
