Dear Diary,

They belong on every decorated Christmas dinner table.

They entertain the whole family.

And they are as British as it can get. 

I’m talking about Christmas crackers.

What is a Christmas cracker?

If you’ve never experienced a British Christmas you might have no idea what a Christmas cracker is.

Maybe something to eat. 

A cracker to accompany your cheese board? Would be nice. But nope. 

It’s a colourful cardboard tube that is twisted at the end. The fun bit is the banger, two stripes of paper that react with friction. So, when the cracker is pulled apart it makes a loud bang.

Traditionally, everyone at the table crosses their arms and takes hold of one end of the cracker, one in each hand. Then, you all pull at the same time. The person who ends up with the bigger part of the cracker wins.

But that’s not all. On the inside, you’ll find a colourful tissue paper crown (which you have to put on), a joke, quiz or limerick and a small toy. 

The jokes are known to be a bit shallow and corny but always make for a good laugh. 

Here’s one of my favourites:

What goes “Oh, oh, oh”? (Find the answer at the end)

The history 

But how did it all begin?

The Christmas cracker goes back to Victorian times. It was initially invented by the confectioner Tom Smith (what a British name!) in the 1850s.

During a trip to Paris, he discovered the French bonbon, a sugared almond wrapped in a twisted paper package. 

He took the idea further and added a paper strip to his bonbons, which at that time often consisted of love poems as the bonbons were a common gift for women.

By the way, the bang is inspired by the crackling sound of a log fire.

The video below shows how they were originally made in an Edwardian factory. Involving lots of manual labour…

It didn't take long before the almond was replaced by a small gift, which could be anything from a marble to a yo-yo, a tiny notebook, or a miniature stapler. 

Nowadays, you can also find themed crackers, containing, for example, luxury beauty products, a piece of jewellery, or chocolate. 

Of course, I had to get cat-themed ones last Christmas.

If you want to get creative and make your own personalised Christmas crackers, here’s a handy tutorial. 

Answer: Santa walking backwards…