June Taylor, 89 and a half, has about 110 nutcrackers out and on display in her home for Christmas this year - nowhere close to the total 141 one she has collected over the years. She decided not to put out the smaller ones this year. The 42 on the fireplace joined her for this portrait and a few more watched on from other corners of the room.
June Taylor, 89 and a half, has over 100 nutcrackers out and on display in her home in Buffalo this holiday season. Taylor has 141 total nutcrackers but didn’t put out the smaller ones this year. While the nutcrackers didn’t start out as a collection, they quickly grew into the mass number she has today. Now her kids and grandkids have joined in the fun and look for unique nutcrackers to add to June’s collection throughout the year and each Christmas.
June Taylor reflects on her favorite nutcracker in the entire collection who she has fondly named “slim.” “I’ve just never seen another like him,” she laughs as she justifies her love for Slim.
The Mardi Gras, Ballerina and Canadian nutcrackers were all gifts from one of June’s granddaughters. The family has gotten involved with the collection, constantly looking out for new nutcrackers or nutcracker themed gifts to send to June.
June Taylor has only one musical nutcracker that she found at a garage sale. It sings and dances on her lamp table.
A few of the larger, nicer nutcrackers, as June described them, still have the labels on them and have a built on base to stand.
“It didn’t start as a collection” Taylor said of the first few she found. When traveling lots to Billings and Sheridan from Buffalo she started just picking out the ones she thought were cute, from there “it just escalated.” Taylor added nine new nutcrackers to her collection this year and noted that of the 141 she has there are only four exact matches to others in her collection.
The largest nutcrackers line the steps leading into the main house with three on the left and two on the right. They reach roughly waste height and are what June call’s here “welcoming nutcrackers.”
Some her favorite memories surrounding the nutcrackers have to do with who gave them to her. This pirate nutcracker was a proud gift from June’s grandsons. They were most excited about the peg leg and the treasure chest with jewelry.
June Taylor has lined up 42 figures up in the windows of her front sunroom of medium size to face out on the street. Taylor says that people sometimes stop by to look at them or drive by slowly to get a glimpse of her outward facing collection.
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