A decorative version portrays a person whose mouth forms the jaws of the nutcracker. Originally one could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. Modern nutcrackers in this style serve mostly for decoration, mainly at Christmas time, a season of which they have long been a traditional symbol. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, derives its name from this festive holiday decoration.