{"id":198,"date":"2021-12-20T18:38:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T17:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=17384"},"modified":"2021-12-23T17:08:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-23T16:08:16","slug":"who-invented-the-christmas-cracker","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/who-invented-the-christmas-cracker\/","title":{"rendered":"Who invented the Christmas cracker?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Sophie Hannam\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 20 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Who invented the Christmas cracker?<\/h2>\n

Every year, on Christmas Day, Brits all over the country gather round their dining tables for that much-vaunted festive lunch. It\u2019s a familiar scene up and down the land: children and adults alike wear brightly coloured tissue-paper crowns as they brandish plastic knick-knacks and roll their eyes at a raft of corny jokes. And it\u2019s all thanks to one man \u2013 Tom Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crackers have been central to our celebrations since the mid 19th century, but they haven\u2019t always been the decorative cardboard tubes filled with jokes, hats and novelties that we know today. \u2018Crackers weren\u2019t just used as table decorations, they were an integral part of the Victorian parlour,\u2019 explains Peter Kimpton<\/a>, cracker specialist and author of Christmas Crackers: Tom Smith\u2019s Magical Invention<\/i>. \u2018It\u2019s incredible that Smith\u2019s creation is still giving pleasure over 160 years on.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\""A\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A Tom Smith advertising brochure from 1978. (Image: Tom Smith Crackers\/IG Design Group UK Ltd.)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

How did Tom Smith create his Christmas crackers?<\/h2>\n

Innovative and forward-thinking, Tom Smith (1823\u20131869) was a sweet-maker and baker by trade. Rumour has it that in 1840, during one of his regular buying trips to Paris, he discovered the muse for his early crackers \u2013 the Parisian bon bon<\/i>, a sugared almond wrapped in patterned paper with a twist at each end. Smith thought the idea was so innovative that he decided to package and present his sweets at home in a similar way. Sadly, the trend didn\u2019t catch on, even when he decided to include a romantic note within the wrapping.<\/p>\n

Not to be put off by his initial lack of success, Smith decided to swap the sugared almond for a small trinket. Apparently, while enjoying the glow of an open fire, the crackle of a burning log inspired him to add a playful \u2018bang\u2019\u00a0to his crackers. \u2018Although we love the romantic idea of this,\u2019 says Kimpton, who has spent years delving into archives and investigating Smith\u2019s early crackers, \u2018it is known that Smith actually purchased the science behind the \u2018snap\u2019 from Tom Brown, a chemist previously employed by Brock\u2019s Fireworks.\u2019 Whatever the truth of the matter, in 1861 Smith launched this version under the name \u2018Bangs of Expectation\u2019, to huge acclaim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Tom\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Tom Smith\u2019s early 20th-century \u2018Joie de Vivre\u2019 cracker design. (Image: \u00a9 The Kathleen Kimpton Collection.)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

How successful were Tom Smith\u2019s Christmas crackers?<\/h2>\n

From that moment on, Smith\u2019s crackers moved to the forefront of the Christmas market. He employed popular artists, including Louis Wain<\/a> and Gus Rosenthal, to create playful sketches to decorate the boxes, and he sought out freelance writers to create love poems and mottos to be rolled up and placed inside. \u2018All rather mushy, if you ask me,\u2019 laughs Kimpton, \u2018but they seemed to do the trick.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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