Sites to visit in Nutcracker season

Site-seeing with Jan Perry

Nutcrackers have always been one of my favorite symbols of the holiday season. Each year I look forward to seeing our family collection. With the Cincinnati Ballet performing the Tchaikovsky classic (performances begin Friday), I thought this was a great time to showcase the colorful crackers.

http://www.nussknackerhaus.com. Everybody's seen chara cter nutcrackers in stores. Read about this holiday art form, its history and today's most collectible designers. Find tips on starting a collection, sign up for the free newsletter and look for the link to the Nutcracker Museum in Washington state.

http://www.blackforestgifts.com. Black Forest may sound like a site from the Rhineland, but it's actually in Roanoke, Va. You'll find an extensive selection of Steinbach nutcrackers, including a limited edition Tchaikovsky holding various characters from the Nutcracker Suite.

http://www.nutcracker-house.com. This site offers doze ns of German-made nutcrackers for sale. In addition to all the traditional characters, there are several variations of Santa. Perhaps the most unusual are the ones designed on rocking horses. This is a European site, so prices are given in euros and German marks. Figure about 75 percent of the euro total for American pricing after taxes have been removed and cash conversion made.

http://www.sciortino.net/music/pit.html. When y ou think of dancing mice and sugar plum fairies, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is the man behind the music. Read a brief biographical timeline and listen to selected midi files from this classical music site.

http://www.nutcrackerballet.net. At the official Nutcra cker Suite Ballet site, you'll find information about the original book (''The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,'' written by E.T.A. Hoffman), the music (by Tchaikovsky) and all the dance companies across the country and throughout Canada that perform the annual favorite. Included is a link to our own Cincinnati Ballet.

http://www.cincinnatiballet.com. Not only is the ballet site beautiful, it offers an amazing amount of information in an easily navigated format. Visit the Nutcracker page for performance dates and times.

http://www.nutcrackersweets.com. Now if you're talkin g nutcracker ''sweets,'' you might want to visit the site by the same name. Nutcrackersweets.com offers dozens of gourmet choices and holiday collections, ranging in price from under $10 and up.

Jan Perry is a freelance writer. Send questions or suggestions to her at SiteSeer2K@aol.com.