| | Happy New Year!! (and the history of the Christmas cracker!)I hope everyone is having a very Happy New Year so far. Sam and I have just got back from 10 days away over Christmas staying with loads of different family members, finishing up in Center Parcs - a forest holiday village - with 16 of my family for New Year. I'll post some photos soon. It's been the longest break we've had since March! We have spent many of the last 10 days eating round a table wearing silver or gold crowns out of crackers so I got a bit of the history. I'd never thought it was weird before! The crowns probably have a royal connection!:
In
1847, almost by accident, Tom Smith invented the cracker. It was a simple
idea which became an integral part of British celebration and tradition
which still continues today, 150 years on. In it's simple form a cracker
is a small cardboard tube covered in a brightly coloured twist of paper.
When
the cracker is 'pulled' by two people, each holding one end of the twisted
paper, the friction creates a small explosive 'pop' produced by a narrow
strip of chemically impregnated paper. The cardboard tube tumbles a
bright paper hat, a small gift, a balloon and a motto or joke.
At
the turn of the century, Tom Smith produced crackers not only for the
Christmas season but also to celebrate every major occasion from The
Paris Exhibition in 1900 to War Heroes in 1918 and The World Tour in
1926 of Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales.
Contents
were tailored to each box; grotesque or artistic masks, puzzles, conundrums,
tiny treasures, jewels, games and mottoes, and most of the beautifully
illustrated boxes, crackers and hats, from fezzes to sheiks'' head dresses,
were made by hand. The fully illustrated catalogues which date back
to 1877 provide an exceptional visual history of British social and
political evolvement over an entire century. http://www.absolutelycrackers.com/historynew.html
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| | Posted 1/2/2006 5:47 PM - 5 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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