Friday, December 23, 2016

Milford Nutcrackers On Display at Russell Library

Milford's  hand made nutcrackers are on display at Russell Library

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Through January 5, 2017, a collection of Susan Milford's hand made nutcrackers are on display in the lobby of Russell Library.

Susan and Walter Milford's nutcrackers were sold throughout the 1980's and 90's. Walter would carve the figures using maple wood, or used Bruce's Woodworks kits, and Susan would paint and costume them. They produced about 1,500 a year.

The nutcrackers came in all sorts of characters. Some were historical figures (the one far left in the photo is Ivan the Terrible), some were fantasy figures such as the Snowman and Uncle Sam (shown in photo) and various Santas.

Most of the the Milford pieces opened below the mouth, thereby yielding a more friendly expression than traditional German nutcrackers. The nutcrackers displayed were produced between 1987-1997.


The collection is on loan from Deb Barberi.


1 comment:

Kathy said...

I have nine of Susan‘s nutcrackers. I used to live on the same block as she did and we were very good friends. I didn’t know what had happened to her. I moved away many years ago. I have tried to get a hold of her to no avail.
I enjoy these nutcrackers every single day! They are displayed in my home!