Everything You Want To Know About Christmas Crackers

Have you ever thought of how long the Christmas cracker tradition has been around? Likely longer than you imagine. The first Christmas crackers appeared nearly 200 years ago, earlier than electricity was invented.

Original Christmas crackers were very different from their modern version.

They were initially introduced as sweets with small notes inside the wrapping and later evolved into real treasure chests, often containing profuse gifts.

Fun fact – the company that introduced the first Christmas crackers in the world exists to this day and still focuses on cracker production. The British Royal Family favors the brand.

However, the cracker way to success wasn’t always blissful. They were banned for different reasons several times throughout the last 100 years.

Currently, environmental activists lead a vicious battle with cracker production, and many airlines prohibit crackers on board, classifying them as fireworks.

How Do Christmas Crackers Work?

Perhaps, you already know that Christmas crackers are festive decorations that snap when pulled open and usually contain something inside, such as confetti or a small gift.

They are usually placed on a table during the Christmas celebration or snapped when taking pictures.

The construction of a cracker is relatively simple. It consists of a paper or plastic tube wrapped in colorful gift paper and twisted on the ends like candy.

But how does the cracker snap? Inside the paper tube, there’s a banger made from two strips of chemically treated paper.

When you apply friction by pulling both ends of the cracker, the chemical reacts, and the cracker makes a banging sound.

Tom Smith

The history of Christmas crackers starts in the Victorian Era. Londoner Tom Smith got inspired by French almond sweets “bon-bon” wrapped in colorful paper and launched his own sweets with a similar design.

In addition to pretty paper, Tom Smith included a motto or a riddle inside the wrapping.

However, Smith’s sweets weren’t very successful. So, he decided to rework the concept, and in 1860, Tom Smith launched a range called “Bangs of Expectations.”

Legends say he got the idea when sitting next to a fireplace. Smith got interested in the sparks and cracks of fire and thought it would be fun if sweets made the same sound when their wrappers were pulled open.

The recipe of cracker snap was likely borrowed from a firework company Brock’s Fireworks. Smith used silver fulminate, a chemical discovered by Edward Howard in 1800, to create the popping sound.

Of course, the size of the wrapping had to be increased to fit in the new mechanism. Eventually, the sweets were removed from the construction and replaced with small items such as jewelry.

The construction was called crackers due to the phonetic resemblance of the sound it makes when pulled open to this word.

The company was initially called Tom Smith & Company and had overwhelming success in the UK.

However, Smith brought the invention abroad, and soon, copies of Smith’s crackers started to arrive in the UK from other countries.

Due to increased competition, Smith had to come up with ways to differentiate from other brands. As a result, Smith designed new cracker types. Unfortunately, he passed away in 1869, leaving the company to his three sons.

Continuing the Legacy of Tom Smith & Company

Smith’s sons didn’t give up on crackers after their father’s death but have raised the company to a new level. They introduced themed crackers dedicated to single men and women, containing items such as wedding rings.

There were also crackers for war heroes, Charlie Chaplin-themed, and crackers for different celebrations, including coronations. The British Royal Family orders crackers explicitly made for them to this day.

While modern Christmas crackers typically contain small, cheap gifts, Tom Smith & Company Millionaire Crackers’ collection featured solid silver boxes with jewelry inside them.

The original mottos and riddles were replaced with more complicated puzzles, cartoons, and, often, corny jokes. Funnily, these jokes are still often used in modern crackers.

The most notable cracker orders of the company included a six-foot cracker for Euston Station in London and a cracker containing a diamond engagement ring.

Legend tells the author of the second request didn’t include his address and never contacted the company again, so the ring is still in the company’s possession.

Christmas Crackers in the 20th Century

Many business people of the early 20th century stived to repeat Tom Smith & Company’s success.

That’s no wonder, as the company continued to surprise the public by creating crackers for every significant occasion in the UK, such as the World Tour of Prince Edward in 1926.

The company tailored cracker contents for each custom order, placing puzzles, games, and treasures into paper wrappers. Many of these items were made by hand.

Beautifully illustrated catalogs of Tom Smith & Company, issued from 1877 to the late 1900s, provide modern historians with a brief visual history of Britain in that era.

The company held six warrants for the British Royal Family since the start of the 20th century. The first Royal Warrant dated 1906 and was granted by the Prince of Wales.

The second and third warrants were granted by King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. Queen Mary’s warrant was renewed twice until she died in 1953.

The first crackers produced by Tom Smith snaped from one side. Only in 1934 did the company introduce the double-snap cracker we’re all familiar with today.

During World War II, the British government banned cracker manufacturing. But after the war ended, the demand for crackers grew higher than ever before.

So Tom Smith & Company merged with Caley Cracker, the UK’s second-largest cracker company, in 1953 to meet the demand.

Later on, the companies also merged with Mead and Field, Neilson Festive Crackers, and Manson and Church, creating Tom Smith Group LTD.

In 1964, the company received a warrant from Queen Elizabeth II, and it’s held to this day.

In 1975, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Warrant was issued and held until she died in 2002. Prince of Wales Charles granted his warrant to the company in 1987.

Christmas Cracker Bans

Christmas crackers have undergone multiple criticisms and prohibition waves throughout their lifetime. The first Christmas cracker ban happened during World War II.

Then, the British government held cracker production to use snaps, the exploding component of crackers, for troop training.

Until the 21st century, no one had an issue with crackers. But with the rise of environmental issue awareness, cracker companies have received significant criticism for contributing to waste.

For example, the estimated annual number of Christmas crackers ending up in the trash is 40 million. Indeed, that’s a lot of waste for a few seconds of fun.

Many modern crackers contain plastic toys, foil, and other components harmful to the environment.

Plus, a large percent of crackers sold in the US are imported from China, which requires burning large amounts of fuel. For this reason, more cracker producers today have shifted to recycled paper Christmas crackers.

Some airlines, including Etihad, Norwegian Airlines, and Emirates, prohibit traveling with crackers on board.

The ban is related to flammable components present in crackers that make them fall into the same category as fireworks.

Cultural Influence

Like most Christmas traditions, crackers have earned their place in culture.

In 1919, American illustrator Norman Rockwell created an oil painting, The Party Favor. It shows a boy and a girl pulling open a cracker and a dog with a large bow standing next to them.

The same year, the painting appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Christmas crackers also inspired the creators of movies Christmas Crackers (2014) and Crackers (1998).

In addition, they were mentioned in a multitude of songs, including “A Pink Badger for Christmas” by Slow Smile, “Bad Sharon” by Robbie Williams, “Separation” by Blink, and “The One and Only” by Kirsty MacColl.

How to Make DIY Christmas Cracker

DIY Christmas crackers are a fun activity for the entire family.

To make them yourself, you’ll need some wrapping paper, preferably thin for easier pulling, cardboard tube, scissors, glue gun, ribbon, stiffener ends, cracker rollers, and cracker snaps.

Optionally, get something to put inside the cracker. All these items can be purchased in hobby stores.

First, insert cracker rollers from both ends of the cardboard tube. Then, center the tube on a piece of wrapping paper and place a snap under the front edge of the tube.

Finally, wrap the gift paper around the tube, ensuring the snap stays in place.

Use a narrow line of glue along the seam of the paper to glue the ends together. Don’t glue the paper to the cardboard tube.

After the glue has hardened, carefully remove the cardboard tube while holding the paper cylinder in the middle. You should get a cylinder from wrapping paper.

Then, roll stiffener ends into cylinders of slightly smaller diameter than the wrapping paper tube and insert them from both ends of it. Make sure that the snap sicks out from the ends of the cracker, don’t cover it.

Glue the stiffener ends to the paper cylinder. Then, gather one end of the cracker between the tube and reinforced end with your fingers and tie a ribbon around it.

Insert anything inside and repeat the procedure with the second end. Cracker ready!

Sources