The nutcracker is made into a humanoid doll

A nutcracker (German: Nussknacker) is usually a tool used to pry open walnuts, usually made of wood. However, in some places, especially in Europe, the nutcracker is made into a humanoid doll, and its mouth can be used to crush walnuts through the handle on the back. Because these dolls are well-made and beautiful, some have lost their meaning as tools and are just a decoration. Certain countries, such as Germany, have a tradition of giving nutcrackers at Christmas. [1] The most famous production area for nutcrackers is the Ore Mountains in Germany, where nutcrackers are usually made into soldiers with big beards and tall hats, kings or gendarmes. [2] In Tchaikovsky's famous ballet "The Nutcracker", the protagonist of the story is a nutcracker. In fact, Tchaikovsky was inspired by the German writer Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". wrote this ballet

The earliest metal nutcrackers date to France around the 13th century, while bronze nutcrackers appear around the 14th and 15th centuries. Initially these tools were forged by hand, but gradually evolved into casting. England is a famous producer of bronze nutcrackers, and there are various types of nutcrackers produced in the UK, while the United States is famous for its cast iron nutcrackers. The original wooden nutcracker was very simple in structure, consisting of only two wooden components, which were connected together by a belt or a chain buckle made of metal. By the 15th and 16th centuries, English and French craftsmen were carving beautiful and elaborate wooden nutcrackers. Most of them use locally grown wood, although artisans prefer boxwood. Because this kind of wood has fine texture and beautiful color. During the 18th and 19th centuries, woodworkers in Austria, Switzerland, and northern Italy began carving wooden nutcrackers that resembled animals and humans in appearance. Nutcrackers using the principle of threaded levers didn't appear until the 17th century. At first the mechanism of these tools was very simple, but it didn't take long for them to start to become beautiful and sophisticated.

The appearance of the nutcracker as a soldier or king originated from the Ore Mountains region of Germany. The German word nutcracker appeared in the dictionary of the Brothers Grimm in 1800 and 1830. According to the definition in the dictionary at the time, a nutcracker is a deformed small male who holds a walnut in his mouth and uses a lever or screw to pry the walnut open. In 1872, the father of the nutcracker, German Wilhelm Füchtner produced the first commercial nutcracker, and later he used a lathe to produce a series of nutcrackers of the same shape.