Top 10 Facts about Christmas Crackers
- Christmas crackers are a traditional Christmas favourite in Britain, and have been around for over 150 years.
- They are festive table decorations that make a ‘bang’ sound when they’re pulled apart, and contain a small gift of some sort, a paper hat, and a joke.
- The world’s longest Christmas cracker measured 63.1 metres in length and 4 metres in diameter.
- A London confectioner called Tom Smith invented the Christmas cracker in 1847.
- Tom Smith included a snapping or crackling sound, supposedly inspired from the crackle from logs in the fireplace.
- Families often have their own nickname for Christmas crackers
- The Regal cracker from Fortnum and Masons is a must-have for Christmas. Each of the six crackers contains two redeemable vouchers for Fortnum’s hampers selection. A pack of six Regal Christmas crackers will set you back an eye watering £5,000.
- Today the Tom Smith Group is a part of Napier Industries Ltd, based in Rickmansworth, and is still the largest manufacturer of Christmas crackers in the world. Even to this day, the Royal Family still has special crackers made by Tom Smith.
- Tom Smith’s family erected a fountain in Finsbury Square, London.
- Paper hats are included in Christmas crackers, plus very unfunny jokes
Find out more about Christmas crackers in our podcast episode
