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John,
The trains are beautiful!
They arrived safe and sound and Bill and I have been playing
with them. The boys will really go wild when they see them.
We just hope we'll keep to our plan of giving them each an
engine and one car for Christmas and then one car at a time
as each holiday arrives. (Somehow I think we'll invent some
new holidays just so they can enjoy each piece as soon as
possible).
Thanks so much - we'll
treasure them.
Beth and Bill
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God gives the nuts
but he does not crack them.
German Proverb
The nut doesn't reveal the tree it contains.
Proverb from ancient Egypt |
More information . . .
I learned a lesson in marketing with this nutcracker. I have made nutcrackers for many years and back in the 90's I was selling one or two dozen at each art fair I attended at that time. This was a welcome bit of extra income. I don't remember why, but at one fair I brought along a basket of nuts as samples. Wow! Nearly every person walking by would try out a nutcracker to see how it would work. After 3 hours I had sold my entire stock of 30 nutcrackers. The rest of the fair I kicked myself for not bringing nuts sooner. The hands-on demonstration was more successful than any pitch I could give. Needless to say I included nuts at every fair after that lesson.
Similarly most of my toy customers come to me by referral these days. People see the toys in other homes and quickly appreciate their value. I guess watching a child play with my toys is a bit like trying out a nutcracker. So I spend less time on the road and more in the shop making these toys.
Unfortunately, since I no longer attend art fairs, I cannot demontrate how well the nutcrackers work and sales have dropped to a few dozen per year. On the other hand I can't keep up with my online toy orders so its just as well. Maybe I should employ some elves in my workshop during the night while I sleep. |
Dear Mr. Linck,
This Christmas, for the third year in a row now, my daughters received one of your pieces of craftsmanship. My stepfather is always thanked profusely. Somehow I also want to thank the person whose skill, time, patience and craftsmanship goes into these magnificent things. In a world of Target products, your work is so much more solid.
We will treasure these toys for generations!
Sincerely, Robin
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