Large soldier statues on Ste-Catherine
View west from Peel and Ste-Catherine on the city traffic cam. As mentioned here, possibly, various installations are going up downtown. I’m not sure what those soldiers have to do with Christmas, but presumably they’re part of the decor.
Tyler 15:34 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
I would guess they are nutcrackers.
Kate 15:44 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
Oh, a thing from that ballet? How odd. But I guess it’s nondenominational at least.
PatrickC 16:08 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
Reminds me of “The March of the Wooden Soldiers,” the Laurel and Hardy movie that used to be on TV every year around Christmastime.
Blork 16:13 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
The Nutcracker has been associated with Christmas since the beginning, as the story takes place on Christmas Eve. Still seems odd to me in some ways. Sort of a reference to a reference.
Daisy 17:03 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
The story, although even more famous after being made into a ballet, in fact predates the ballet. It was written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816.
ant6n 18:38 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
Apparently, decorative nutcrackers are much older from like the 15th century on. It´s associated with xmas, but it´s kinda German.
Kate 18:41 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
Daisy, I didn’t know that – thanks.
Other years I would’ve assumed this to be PR for the yearly ballet, but this year?
ant6n, I wonder if it’s another German thing Prince Albert brought to the UK (and thus the Empire), like Christmas trees.
Nick D 21:15 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
I was once in Paris at Xmas time and learned that the Nutcracker (Casse-Noisette) is a big part of the Xmas imaginaire there (too) — but it was never part of it in my English childhood. Probably some of that is being channelled here.
Daisy 21:50 on 2020-12-14 Permalink
I used to have a wooden Nutcracker as a Christmas decoration before I downsized, doesn’t seem unusual to me.
Kate 12:18 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
Oh OK. I guess to me, soldiers standing at attention in the street doesn’t really have that festive feel. But if it works generally, fine.
I haven’t set foot on Ste-Catherine Street since March, anyway.
DeWolf 13:22 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
Just chiming in to say that my family also had plenty of nutcrackers that would go up on display during Christmas. It was also a bit of a family tradition to go see the ballet which was staged every year in December and very Christmassy in feel.
Kevin 17:35 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
I never would have pegged Kate as someone who’s never even *heard* of a famous ballet.
Orr 19:19 on 2020-12-15 Permalink
The Nutcracker is a tradition for Montreal children not just to see, but to actually be in the performance.
Kate 22:05 on 2020-12-19 Permalink
Kevin, of course I’d heard of it. They normally do it every year around Christmas and – as I said above – in a normal year I’d probably have assumed these figures were something to do with advertising it. But not this year, obviously, so I was somewhat puzzled why anyone would put these things up.