A 101-year-old runs the largest nutcracker museum in the U.S. Here's a look inside

A 101-year-old runs the largest nutcracker museum in the U.S. Here's a look inside

Vanessa Romo

December 09, 2025 / 2:00 am

Tucked into the Bavarian-esque town of Leavenworth, Wash., at the foothills of the Cascade mountains is a two-story jewel of whimsy and, some might say, obsession. It's the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, the nation's largest nutcracker collection, which houses an array of more than 9,000 handcrafted nutcrackers, one dating back to at least 200 AD.

Presiding over it all is Arlene Wagner, usually perched on a stool at the museum's entrance wearing a pearl necklace and traditional German dirndl dress. (Think Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music .) While diminutive – she stands at just 4 ft. 10 inches — the "Nutcracker Lady" is a spitfire of an entrepreneur who jus