Nutcrackers

Nutcrackers became well known in Germany within the mining community.  Life was hard for the villagers who worked long hours as miners.  Often the miners watched as their fruits of their labor were taken by their superiors.  During winter months when they weren't mining, many of the villagers carved wood until they could return to work.  Their carvings, nutcracker dolls, were cleverly designed to resemble powerful people  such as policemen, kings, and soldiers.  The townspeople enjoyed the caricatures of their rulers, because they were placed at their service to perform the lowly task of cracking nuts.  

This was a project I found on Artsonia a few years ago.