Why do you pull Christmas cracker?

Answer 1

Pulling a Christmas Cracker

Hello name is Jack and I will tell you the complete story of the Christmas crackers:

In early 1830, Tom Smith started work as a small boy in a bakers and ornamental confectioners shop in London, selling sweets such as fondants, pralines and gum pastilles. He worked hard and took particular interest in the wedding cake ornaments and decorations, experimenting and creating new, more exciting and less crude designs in his spare time. Before long he was successful enough to leave and start up his own business in Goswell Road, Clerkenwell, East London.

He was adventurous and forward thinking, often travelling abroad to search for new ideas, it was on a trip to Paris in 1840 that he first discovered the 'bon bon', a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper. It was a simple idea which, over the next 7 years, would eventually evolved into the Cracker. He decided to bring the 'bon bon' to London and during Christmas that year they sold extremely well, but in January demand virtually ceased and once again he was reliant on sales of cake and table decorations and ornaments. Anxious to develop the 'bon bon' idea further and stimulate sales, Tom decided to place a small love motto in the tissue paper and he encouraged his regular customers to takes supplies, many did, and within a short while, orders were sufficiently high and sales profitable enough for him to increase his staff.

By now, Tom knew that he had an unique and potentially very commercial idea. He decided to take a risk and concentrate on developing it further, while still running the wedding cake ornament and confectionery business which was by now very well established. At this time, the majority of 'bon bons' were still sold at Christmas and he began to think up ways to capitalise on this short but very profitable season and make his 'bon bons' even more appealing. It was the crackle of a log as he threw it on his fire that gave him the flash of inspiration which eventually led to the crackers we know today.

A ' crackle' would add the necessary excitement and spark to his novelty 'bon bon' and it was now simply a matter of experimentation to find a compound which gave a satisfactory bang without going to far. The size of the 'bon bon' would also need to increase significally to accommodate the 'cracking mechanism' but the shape remained the same and the motto was still included. Eventually Tom perfected his chemical

explosion to create a 'pop' caused by friction when the wrapping was broken This eventually became the snap and the cracker was born.

The trade jumped at Tom Smith's latest novelty, and he was snowed under with orders. Very quickly he began to refine his product - he dropped the sweet and the 'bon bon' name, calling his new crackers Cosaques, but he kept the motto and added a surprise gift.

Delighted at his overnight success Tom decided to explore the export market and took his cracker abroad. At this time, only one design of cracker was being made and to his horror, an Eastern manufacturer seized his idea, copied it and delivered a consignment of crackers to Britain just before Christmas. Not surprisingly, in true fashion, Tom immediately rose to the challenge; he designed 8 different kinds of cracker, worked his staff day and night and distributed stocks throughout the country also in time for Christmas. After this he never looked back.

Tom Smith lived to see the new branch of his firm grow to swamp the original premises in Goswell Road. The company moved to Finsbury Square in the City of London where it remained until 1953. When he died he left the business to his three sons, Tom Henry and Walter. A few years later, a drinking fountain was erected in Finsbury Square by Walter Smith in memory of his mother, Mary, and to commemorate the life of the man who invented the great British Cracker.

At the turn of the Century the demand for crackers, and especially those which celebrated current trends and events, was high.

After Tom Smith's death, his three sons set about developing the cracker designs, contents and mottoes. Walter Smith, the youngest son, introduced a topical note to the mottoes which had previously been love verses.Special writers were commissioned to compose snappy and relevant maxims with references to every important event or craze at the time from greyhounds to Jazz, Frothblowers to Tutankhamen, Persian Art to The Riviera.

The original early Victorian mottoes were mainly love verses...Eventually these were replaced by more complicated puzzles and cartoons, and finally by the corny jokes and riddles which characterise our crackers today. Walter also introduced the paper hats, many of which were elaborate and made of best tissue and decorative paper on proper hatmakers stands. He also toured the world to find new, relevant and unusual ideas for the surprise gifts such as bracelets from Bohemia, tiny wooden barrels from America and scarf pins from Saxony. Some contents were also assembled in the factory like the thousands of tiny pill boxes filled with rouge complete with powder puff.

Tom Smith were now able to fulfil special orders for both companies and individuals. Records show an order for a six foot cracker to decorate Euston Station in London, and in 1927 a gentleman wrote to the Company enclosing a diamond engagement ring and 10 shilling note as payment for the ring to be put in a special cracker for his fiancée. Unfortunately he did not enclose an address and never contacted the Company again; the ring, letter and 10 shilling note are still in the safe today.

Tom Smith Group Limited now employs more than 150 people at their head office and factory in Rickmansworth. Crackers are exported worldwide to 34 countries including the USA, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and Japan. Although most of the work in making crackers today is automated, the principle largely remains the same.

Every single cracker has the snap carefully placed by hand and each one is filled and closed. The more elaborated designs are then individually hand finished, and some crackers are made entirely by hand.

It would be hard to imagine a Christmas without crackers as they have become part of the nation's festive celebrations. However almost like the fashion over a hundred years ago, there is a move towards highlighting other events and days when it is appropriate to enjoy crackers. these include personal occasions such as valentines Day and Weddings, and annual family occasions like Birthdays and Halloween, not to mention baby Showers, 4th of July and Thanksgiving in the USA. Tom Smith offer specially designed crackers for all of these occasions and celebrations and demand is increasing.

This brings us to the end of the remarkable story of how the Cracker was invented. It is a true story of innovation, perseverance and success, and to prove it, 150 years on, Tom Smith's crackers are pulled and enjoyed all over the world.

A Christmas cracker is pulled because doing so causes a popping noise and breaks the cracker, revealing the toys and candy inside.