Cracking Good Fun!

One of the British Christmas traditions which I have firmly adopted and highly recommend  is that of setting your Christmas table with Christmas crackers. In fact, why wait till Christmas? With the season of holiday celebrations now well and truly underway, I have already had the excitement of pulling several crackers.

Christmas crackers are a British tradition dating back to Victorian times. In the early 1850s, Tom Smith, a London confectioner, started including a motto to his sugared almond bon-bons which he sold wrapped in a twisted paper package. Many of his bon-bons were bought by men to give to women, many of the mottos were simple love poems.

So, what is this all about you may ask? For those who have not yet experienced this tradition it goes something like this:  At the end of a festive meal everyone seated at the table crosses arms and holds an end of a cracker in each hand. Once all hands are securely gripping the cracker ends there is an almighty pull against the person holding the other end in an attempt to get the larger half! Why the larger half? Well, this is where the fruits of your labour are found (after all, that sort of exertion at the end of a jovial celebration in which much food and alcohol are consumed certainly needs a reward). The snap of the crackers is quickly followed by a scramble to see what trinket is inside the winning half. A mandatory reading of the accompanying joke (typically unfunny to all those over the age of 5) and the adorning of the tissue paper crown complete the ritual.

To give you a better visual of what a cracker looks like, imagine a used a toilet or kitchen paper cardboard roll filled with a trinket (which usually winds up in the bin after a few minutes, hours or days and certainly by the New Year), a joke and a paper crown. Inside the cracker are two strips of chemically impregnated paper that react with friction so that when the cracker is pulled apart by two people, the cracker makes a bang. The roll is then covered in a pretty holiday wrapping and twisted at either end so the finished product takes the shape of an oversized sweet!


So, you get the picture now! Not excited yet? Well then I suspect you are in the market for the more ‘upscale’ luxury crackers. The options are extensive with many luxury brands stocking their own bespoke crackers. There are also themed crackers so for example for a ladies night out you may choose to have the Essie nail polish crackers. At stores like Liberty, Harrods and Selfridges you can find crackers accommodating the most indulgent budgets and fanciful tastes to match the table décor. I do wonder if the jokes get any better in these crackers! Maybe someday I’ll find out, hint, hint…

I am convinced, however, that once the tradition is established in your family you will find as much joy in pulling the less extravagant crackers and find the luxurious ones a bit over the top for their purpose! For me, it is the crossing of the arms and the snap of the cracker along with post meal photos of friends and family all sporting their paper crowns each in their own unique way that make the tradition live on in my family!

So, happy cracker shopping and don’t forget my top tip for success- it’s all in the grip!

Written by Nancy Dickinson.  Nancy is Deputy Executive Director at FOCUS.

For more information please visit www.focus-info.org