3. The Christmas Cracker Is A Microcosm of British Ingenuity
Much like the Chicken Tikka Masala, the Christmas Cracker was born in Britain but incorporated the best of what other cultures had to offer at the time in an attempt to hit upon the local tastes. It all started with a little confectioner who took a trip to Paris. Whilst there, he happened to reconnaissance
innocently peruse a few sweet shops and noticed that the French wrapped their Bon Bons in coloured paper. Not only did he think this made them look more attractive but, in the consumptive 19th Century, any way of keeping peoples grubby mitts off the perishables was a winner! Not long afterwards, rumours of Italians putting trinkets into chocolate eggs and the Chinese putting messages into their delectables also rang true in the little confectioners mind. Along with these niceties, the confectioner decided to incorporate a relatively new discovery by a noted Italian chemist: Silver Fulminante, the much-loved crack created by rubbing together two chemically-treated cardboard strips together was the real spark that made Christmas Crackers great! After a while, the enjoyment borne of trinkets, sayings and miniature explosions overrode the necessity of putting chocolate inside the once ornate outer casings. Perhaps its time to re-introduce the tradition of putting edible treats inside crackers? It could be done whilst simultaneously introducing a failsafe mechanism for Christmas scoundrels who insist on sliding a roguish thumb over the body of the cracker in order to cheat children out of a brief sense of victory. It is worth bearing in mind that our ingenious confectioners name was actually Tom Smith. Short of calling him John Doe his name couldnt get any more generic and, therefore, less believable. However, the Italians have a saying when it comes to situations just like this: If its not true, its well founded. It sounds better in Italian, obviously, but nice all the same!