When she was 5, Donna-Lynn Ching saw a production of "The Nutcracker" — now a vivid memory that still makes her smile.
"I loved it!" she said. "The beautiful dancers, costumes, sets and music put me into a trance. After that, I always wanted a decorative wooden nutcracker, but I couldn’t find any in Honolulu."
In the mid-1980s, after she graduated from chiropractic school, Ching received a little soldier nutcracker as a Christmas gift from a friend living in New York.
"I was so happy I finally had a wooden nutcracker!" she said. "For years, I’d send my friend macadamia nut candy for Christmas and he’d send me nutcrackers — different ones every time."
Ching began arranging them with lights, ribbons, ornaments, pine cones and tinsel garlands to create colorful holiday displays in her Kaimuki office. Patients, friends and relatives assumed she had started a nutcracker collection and wanted to contribute.
And contribute they did.
Today, Ching has 220 nutcrackers ranging in size from 21/2 inches to 3 feet tall. All have been gifts.
As soon as she unwraps a nutcracker, Ching writes the initials of the person who gave it to her on the bottom of it.
"The initials are important," she said, "because to me, the collection is as much about the friends I’ve made over the years as it is cute nutcrackers."
Most of the figures in Ching’s collection are made of wood. Some flaunt splashes of glitter, sequins and feathers.
Joining the Mouse King, Snow Queen and Nutcracker Prince from Tchaikovsky’s ballet are jesters, ballerinas, rocking horses, gingerbread men and about four dozen soldiers. Young and old are delighted to see Merlin, Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Mouse and Dorothy and her friends from "The Wizard of Oz."
A skier, a golfer and hockey, baseball and basketball players represent the sports world. There’s also a farmer, a fireman, a baker and a blacksmith. Hawaiian-themed versions include a hula dancer in a hot-pink cellophane skirt and a tanned, lei-bedecked male figure holding a tray of tropical drinks in tiki mugs.
Also of note are a few hand-carved and hand-painted pieces from Steinbach and Heinrich C. Preis, two of the top nutcracker manufacturers in Germany. One of Ching’s patients bought a Preis chimney sweep nutcracker when he was stationed in Germany with the Hawaii Air National Guard and hand-carried it back to Honolulu for her.
While Ching cherishes all of her nutcrackers, she is especially fond of two of them.
"One is a pirate that looks like Johnny Depp," she said. "Since ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ is one of my favorite movies, I was happy to get him. The other is a girl wearing a glittering tiara and evening gown. She reminds me that this is a festive time of the year and that I need to slow down, relax and enjoy it."
Ching’s nutcracker displays immerse everyone who sees them in holiday cheer. Many of them whip out their cellphones and snap photos of their favorites to share with others.
"Setting up the displays takes a lot of time, but it’s worth it to see people appreciate them," Ching said.
"My friend Eugene Kam is a professional photographer. He took pictures of my collection a month ago and decorated Cafe Laufer (in Kaimuki) with them. They’re hanging in the restaurant right now."
From the day after Thanksgiving, nutcrackers occupy every spare spot on floors, shelves, tables and counters in Ching’s office.
Even so, she asserts, there will always be room for her nutcracker ohana to grow.
"Can you put the word out that I’d like to find the Snow King from ‘The Nutcracker’?" she asks.
"The Snow Queen is lonely. Hey, Hawaii, please help me find her mate!"
