Christmas crackers are festive table decorations that make a snapping sound when pulled open, and typically contain a small gift, paper hat and a joke. They are part ofChristmas celebrations in theUnited Kingdom,Ireland andCommonwealth countries such asAustralia,Canada,New Zealand andSouth Africa.
A cracker consists of a segmentedcardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist ofpaper with a prize in the centre,[1] making it resemble an oversizedsweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled apart by two people, each holding an outer chamber, causing the cracker to split unevenly and leaving one person holding the central chamber and prize.[1] The split is accompanied by a mild bang or snapping sound produced by the effect of friction on ashock-sensitive, chemically impregnated card strip (similar to that used in acap gun).[1] One chemical used for the friction strip issilver fulminate.[2]
Crackers are traditionally pulled during Christmas dinner or at Christmas parties. One version of the cracker ritual holds that the person who ends up with the larger end of cracker earns the right to keep the contents of the cardboard tube. Sometimes, each participant retains ownership of their own cracker and keeps its contents regardless of the outcome. Christmas crackers traditionally contain a colourful crown-shaped hat made of tissue paper, a smalltoy, aplastic model, or a trinket, and a small strip ofpaper with amotto, ajoke, ariddle, or a piece of trivia.[3] The paper hats, with the appearance of crowns, are usually worn atChristmas dinner. The tradition of wearing festive hats is believed to date back to Roman times and theSaturnalia celebrations, which also involved decorative headgear.[1]
Christmas crackers are also associated withKnut's parties, held in Sweden at the end of the Christmas season.
Author and historianJohn Julius Norwich (Viscount Norwich) was known for sending his family and friends a Christmas Cracker each year which was a kind of expanded Christmas card of anecdotes, trivia and witticisms collected from history and literature. Initially he printed them privately to give to friends but also sold via some London bookstores. His 49th and final cracker was published posthumously[4] in the year of his death.
TheOxford English Dictionary records the pulling ofcrackers from 1847.[5]
Tradition tells of howTom Smith (1823–1869) ofLondon invented crackers in 1847.[6][7] He created the crackers as a development of hisbon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper). As sales of bon-bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. His first tactic was to insert love messages into the wrappers of thesweets (similar tofortune cookies).[8]
Smith was inspired to add a "crackle" element after hearing the crackle of alog he had just put on a fire.[8][9] The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by atrinket: fans, jewellery and other substantial items.[10] The new product was initially marketed as theCosaque (French forCossack),[10] but theonomatopoeic "cracker" soon became the commonly used name, as rival varieties came on the market.
The other elements of the modern cracker—the gifts, paper hats and varied designs—were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, to differentiate his product from the rival cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up.[9]
Tom Smith & Company merged with Caley Crackers in 1953.
A memorial water fountain to Tom Smith and his family stands inFinsbury Square, London.[11][12]
A Christmas cracker is the subject ofThe Party Favor, an oil painting by American artistNorman Rockwell.[13][14] The painting appeared as cover art forThe Saturday Evening Post on 26 April 1919.[15]
The World's Largest Christmas Cracker was measured at 63.1 m (207 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and was made by the parents of children at Ley Hill School and Pre-School, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK on 20 December 2001.[16]
The longest Christmas cracker pulling chain consisted of 1081 people and was achieved byThe Harrodian School in London on 10 December 2015.[17]
On 17 August 2020, while filming a Christmas episode of the television seriesQI, British comedianAlan Davies set aGuinness World Record for the most crackers pulled by an individual in 30 seconds. He achieved 35 successful cracks, outscoring fellow panelistJustin Moorhouse by five in a head-to-head competition.[18] Davies' record stood until Joel Corry achieved 41 successful cracks at Capital'sJingle Bell Ball on 12 December 2021.[19]
Rules on transporting Christmas crackers in luggage vary by airline and airport.[20] Passengers on commercial flights in and to theUnited States are explicitly prohibited from carrying Christmas crackers on board or in checked baggage.[21]
Media related toChristmas crackers at Wikimedia Commons
