For those of you that don’t know what a Christmas Cracker is, let me give you a brief explanation of who invented them, what they are and how we in the UK use them. 
In 1840 a confectioner by the name of Tom Smith went to Paris in search for new ideas, he discovered the Bon Bon, a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of paper. He introduced the Bon Bon to England during Christmas time and they were a success, increasing the sale of confectionery, but sales fell flat in January. Anxious to to develop the Bon Bon he introduced a small love motto wrappped in the twist of paper, a few years later trying to capitalise on the short market he introduced the SNAP which he came upon quite by accident.
It was the crackle of a log as he threw it on the fire that gave him the idea, a crackle would add a spark of excitement. After experimenting to find the right compound to give a satisfactory bang without going too far and increasing the size of the wrapping, the Cracker was born! A paper casing with a snap, a sweet, and motto inside.
The Cracker continued to be developed after Tom Smith's death by his three sons, introducing different contents and more topical mottos and became the Cracker that we use today for all kinds of celebrations but mainly at Christmas.
In our house they are part of the Christmas table decoration, I choose the Crackers to go with my table decorations. They are pulled after we have eaten dinner and before the sweet. We all hate the silly hats which I insist we wear for at least five minutes: they never fit, always too big or too small! The jokes are usually corny and by the time you have had a glass of wine or two you can hardly read the tiny writing, we say we buy them for the children who love the little gifts, but Christmas would not be Christmas in the UK without the Cracker!
