#Nutcracker #Worth #WorthPoint
No matter which holidays you celebrate, this festive season usually comes with a cadre of holiday collectibles, like vintage nutcrackers. Whether your decorations are family heirlooms, a hysterical white elephant gift from a long-ago office party, or a favorite gift from friends, our holidays just don’t seem complete with all of those sequined, glittery, or motion-activated treasures that we can’t bear to throw away or donate. Would it really be the holidays without your vintage plastic Santa lighting up your front yard? Or the tree ornament that your kids made back in preschool?
Then again, as we accumulate more ornaments, ugly sweaters, and holiday knickknacks, sometimes they become too numerous to remember. Not all seasonal stories are as memorable as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. You may find yourself struggling to remember when exactly you obtained your singing Frosty the Snowman doll. Or, perhaps wondering why you own a holiday Oreo tin from 1995.
These questions are especially intrusive at the beginning and end of the holidays when we unpack our decorations from giant plastic bins or re-tape them into cardboard boxes so they can be stowed away safely for next year. As we wrap and re-wrap, box and unbox, perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering the most daunting décor question of all: Just what the heck is this thing?
For those who’ve lost the thread of their holiday décor narratives (or never knew the story of their heirlooms to begin with), WorthPoint is here to help. This December, we decided to see how the WorthPoint mobile app (available for both iOS and Android) could help us unpack and demystify a huge collection of nutcracker dolls. When one nutcracker has the potential to be worth thousands of dollars, it’s important to know what you’re dealing with.
If you’re trying to figure out the value of your collectibles or just trying to get a handle on what they are, the app’s visual search feature can help you get started on your research odyssey. Just snap a picture, and before you know it, you’ll be in a magical world of antiques expertise in no time.
Love a good vintage nutcracker? Learn more about its evolution from a kitchen tool to a holiday toy.
In addition to her role as HIP’s curator of photography, Allison Radomski is a writer and filmmaker. She spends her days hunting for analog cameras, scoring her own movies in her laundry closet, and building her collections of Polaroids and handkerchiefs. She has degrees in cinema & media studies and religious studies from the University of Chicago.
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