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The Holiday Nutcracker & Christmas Party Invitations

  

Nutcrackers have become one of the symbols of the holiday season. The wooden objects usually painted in reds, greens, whites, and blues can be purchased almost anywhere in a wide variety of sizes. While at one time, nutcrackers were mostly used for their practical purpose of cracking nuts, today most people use them simply as decorations for the holidays.


The History of the Nutcracker

The familiar soldier-designed nutcrackers originated in Germany, particularly in the mountains. For wood carvers in those areas, creating the small devices allowed them an additional source of income for supporting their families.

Nutcrackers from a number of particular carvers have become collectors items, particularly the Steinbach variety here in the United States.


The Nutcracker & the Ballet

For some holiday celebrants, the nutcracker doesn’t conjure up images of opened walnuts. Instead, they think of the famous ballet by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky which is shown throughout the United States during the holidays. The ballet was based on a German story from 1816 known as The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and was set to music near the end of the 19th century. Tchaikovsky’s work incorporated an adaptation of the story created by the father of famous writer Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo).

The ballet is set during Christmas and centers around a young girl who travels to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairies along with a come-to-life version of a toy nutcracker – a present she receives during her parents’ Christmas Eve party.

The Nutcracker Suite was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892 but was not performed in the United States until 1944 when the San Francisco Ballet Company did their own production and continued the performance every holiday season. The New York City Ballet version was first performed in 1954 and was slightly different from Tchaikovsky’s original.


Nutcracker Holiday Invitations

Because the nutcracker – both the tool and the ballet – have become synonymous with the holidays, it only makes sense that they would be ideal symbols to include on holiday party invitations. Whether you’re having a pre-Christmas party or you want to invite your family over to open presents on Christmas morning, invitations such as Christmas Joy and Holiday Nutcracker are an ideal choice.

Another idea is to use these invitations to invite your family to a presentation of the ballet either in person or on television. If you can’t find a performance on the television, you can always rent the DVD of the 1993 feature film version starring Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone) and invite everyone over for eggnog and nuts.
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