Delaware Online Highlights HOF Nutcracker Exhibit
With 30 years of annual holiday tradition, the Historic Odessa Foundation returns with a celebration of the 200th anniversary of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic story: the Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Ryan Cormier of DelawareOnline.com reports the transformation of the historic Wilson-Warner House into the home of Marie Stahlbaum, the young protagonist of the beloved Christmas tale.
Each year, about 3,500 people visit the traditional exhibit at the 18th century National Historic Register Wilson-Warner House, part of a 30-acre historic district filled with 18th and 19th century structures. The 150th anniversary of "Alice in Wonderland" was last year's theme.
Historic Odessa Foundation assistant curator Brian Miller decided on nutcrackers after realizing this year is the 200th anniversary of "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King." At the time of the decision in January, he knew the community would have plenty to contribute. And they did! The local community banned together and donated nearly 100 nutcrackers for the exhibit, including 30 from a 12-year-old Middletown boy.
This exhibit means different things to people of different ages. For the younger set, they are more familiar with the solider nutcracker popularized in holiday stories and ballets. Older patrons get a kick out of the more traditional lever nutcrackers that they might have used a child themselves. The exhibit is a chance for the young and old to come together and tell their own nutcracker stories.
