HOT PURSUIT
In one of my back roads trips across Minnesota this summer, I experienced something that may be the most jaw dropping experience ever.
After leaving the Rock County History Center in Luverne, I thought I had died and went to nutcracker heaven. It’s the home of one of the largest and most colorful nutcracker collections in the world.
For those who know me, I’ve been collecting nutcrackers for most of my life. Yes, I’m sure you recall me sharing about my 7-foot nutcracker find last Christmas. It’s something my parents started for me back in my childhood years. So, it only seemed natural to make a trip to Luverne, which has a collection of 6,500 nutcracker items. Most of them are the figurines.
Besides Christmas nutcrackers, there are cabinets filled with policemen, pirates, gnomes, snowmen, military and sports. There are no duplicates. If they receive a duplicate, they pick the better of the two and sell the other, according to Betty Mann of the Rock County History Center. “I know them all. God has blessed me with good memory so far,” she said.
Even Mann’s great grandson made a small nutcracker out of Legos for the collection.
While the nutcrackers have a lively grip on Luverne, the story about how the collection came to life is perhaps more intriguing than the nutcrackers themselves.
Mann shared how she lost her husband and oldest daughter in 2000. It was “a tough Christmas,” she recalled. “I always wanted a wooden nutcracker.”
In January 2021, when Christmas items were half-price, she purchased a belated Christmas gift for herself—a wooden nutcracker. Within no time, it began to multiply by the dozens, soon hundreds and eventually thousands. By 2023, she had more than 2,500 nutcrackers through her own purchases and gifts from family and friends.
Suffice to say, the nutcrackers began to fill every nook and cranny in her house.
“I just love it. It’s just a part of me,” said Mann, 94, wearing a “Jaw Dropping” nutcracker t-shirt and dangling nutcracker earrings. “It’s a thrill of hunt. It’s a disease.”
Betty and her late husband were victims of the 1980s farm crisis that had a grip on the Midwest. They were forced to either get out of it or get bigger. They chose to get out and sold their farm. That’s when she began collecting.
By the time her husband died in 2000, they had collected 500 toys. She justified her collecting by noting how she never smoked and drank very little. She also thought they were investing for their children through the collections, but like many antiques, the market tanked, and things weren’t worth much.
After selling off the toys, Mann latched onto nutcrackers. In 2022, after 27 years as president of the Rock County Historical Society, she donated her collection to the History Center, though family members got first dibs on some.
It has become quite the spectacle in Luverne. Nutcrackers are taking over the town. There are a few 8-foot-tall nutcrackers attached to buildings. The Chamber has installed 7-foot fiberglass nutcrackers painted by local artists around town. The community’s Winterfest celebration showcases a nutcracker theme. The city park even becomes lined with nutcrackers.
But perhaps you haven’t seen anything just yet. Coming this fall Luverne will become home to the world’s largest nutcracker. Construction is currently underway on a 65-foot-tall nutcracker with a movable jaw just off the I-90 exit.
Just for Nuts, a nonprofit organization, has formed for the nutcracker statute. Advocates say similar landmarks bring in up to 50,000 visitors every year, creating a huge impact on the community.
While Mann and the history center’s collection is not directly connected to Just for Nuts, it obviously has had an influence. In June 2017, a destination development specialist completed a weeklong community assessment. He identified Luverne’s one most amazing thing as Mann’s nutcracker collection. He advised leaders to build on the collection to develop Luverne as a tourism destination. The world’s largest nutcracker has been spurred out of that movement.
“They are not historical,” Mann admits. “But you need a hook to get people into town, and the nutcrackers are a perfect hook.”
If you’re looking for a fun day trip, I recommend going in hot pursuit of Luverne’s nutcracker haven.
