Christmas cracker
christmas cracker festive table decoration make snapping sound pulled open typically contain small gift paper hat joke part christmas celebration united kingdom ireland commonwealth country australia canada new zealand south africa cracker consists segmented cardboard tube wrapped brightly decorated twist paper prize centre making resemble oversized sweetwrapper cracker pulled apart two people holding outer chamber causing cracker split unevenly leaving one person holding central chamber prize split accompanied mild bang snapping sound produced effect friction shocksensitive chemically impregnated card strip similar used cap gun one chemical used friction strip silver fulminate cracker traditionally pulled christmas dinner christmas party one version cracker ritual hold person end larger end cracker earns right keep content cardboard tube sometimes participant retains ownership cracker keep content regardless outcome christmas cracker traditionally contain colourful crownshaped hat made tissue paper small toy plastic model trinket small strip paper motto joke riddle piece trivia paper hat appearance crown usually worn christmas dinner tradition wearing festive hat believed date back roman time saturnalia celebration also involved decorative headgear christmas cracker also associated knut party held sweden end christmas season author historian john julius norwich viscount norwich known sending family friend christmas cracker year kind expanded christmas card anecdote trivia witticism collected history literature initially printed privately give friend also sold via london bookstore th final cracker published posthumously year death oxford english dictionary record pulling cracker tradition tell tom smith – london invented cracker created cracker development bonbon sweet sold twist paper origin traditional sweetwrapper sale bonbon slumped smith began come new promotional idea first tactic insert love message wrapper sweet similar fortune cooky smith inspired add crackle element hearing crackle log put fire size paper wrapper increased incorporate banger mechanism sweet eventually dropped replaced trinket fan jewellery substantial item new product initially marketed cosaque french cossack onomatopoeic cracker soon became commonly used name rival variety came market element modern cracker—the gift paper hat varied designs—were introduced tom smith son walter smith differentiate product rival cracker manufacturer suddenly sprung tom smith company merged caley cracker memorial water fountain tom smith family stand finsbury square london christmas cracker subject party favor oil painting american artist norman rockwell painting appeared cover art saturday evening post april world largest christmas cracker measured ft long ft diameter made parent child ley hill school preschool chesham buckinghamshire uk december longest christmas cracker pulling chain consisted people achieved harrodian school london december august filming christmas episode television series qi british comedian alan davy set guinness world record cracker pulled individual second achieved successful crack outscoring fellow panelist justin moorhouse five headtohead competition davy record stood joel corry achieved successful crack capital jingle bell ball december rule transporting christmas cracker luggage vary airline airport passenger commercial flight united state explicitly prohibited carrying christmas cracker board checked baggage medium related christmas cracker wikimedia common