My best cracker toy was the plastic cylinder that pulled apart and you slotted one part through a hole in the other (are you still with me here?) and lo and behold! Wonders! it magically became a corkscrew!!!!

I tell you, reader, that this piece of plastic, kept in my handbag, has served me faithfully in times of need, especially memorably one time in Paris...

What a pity one is no longer allowed to travel with one's tire bouchon - at least in hand luggage.

<<vampire teeth are the best thing>>

Didn't you ever make monster/vampire teeth out of tangerine peel?

The most interesting freebie toys/puzzles are those found in Kinder Eggs.

But Kinder Eggs haven't got any jokes in. No silly hat. And they don't go "bang" when you open them.

Like Christmas crackers redesigned by by a risk-averse Swede

So true, guv'ner.

Curious - how old is this cracker/silly hat tradition - recent creation of marketing or old cherished tradition?

Paper hats or crowns are very old, I think, and not uniquely British.

As for crackers - 1847, apparently:
http://www.absolutelycrackers.com/hist_what.html

Oddly enough, you CAN take a corkscrew onto a flight, per the TSA site. Why on earth would anyone need to do that?

Crackers are a staple here in Canada for Christmas dinner only, mainly due to our English heritage (after all we are a member of the Commonwealth with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth our "symbolic" head of state).

I remember getting whistles and little cars during the Sixties - and of course, everyone MUST wear the silly paper hats during dinner, which was traditionally held after watching the Queen's Christmas message on the television - usually 2 in the afternoon.

Underhill, I had read a couple years ago that corkscrews were allowed on flights. So I was somewhat surprised when the agent pulled one out of my carryon and said I couldn't take it. The reason it was there? We always take one along for train trips and picnics in Europe -- but it could easily have been in the checked luggage.
So why did they confiscate it? It was one of those professional waiter type ones that has the little pull out knife to cut off the foil. Duh. What on earth was I thinking -- I just never thought about it.

I always buy my Christmas Crackers in Ross, Marshall's or TJMaxx - usually cheaper than the ones in England. It's our tradition to pull them at the Christmas dinner table, read the jokes aloud and to wear the hats throughout dinner. Our greatest delight is to see our big, manly American son-in-laws, trying to keep up our tradition yet feeling squirmingly silly. I think you have to be a Brit to really enjoy this endearingly whacky tradition.

Actually, I was just wondering why anyone would need a corkscrew while on the plane.

No need to bring them home - even IF they are allowed on the plane. Crackers are available <b>everywhere</b> in the States: Macys, Williams/Sonoma, Linens 'N Things, many discount stores, Cost Plus, Drug stores, Tuesday Morning, Nordstroms, TJMaxx, Ross, Marshall's and hundreds of other places - from dirt cheap to REALLY expensive.

Don't buy the least expensive ones at Cost Plus; ours didn't have hats or toys in them. I was so disappointed.

Lee Ann

ElendilPickle,

&quot;Least expensive&quot;?? do you mean cheapest?

It's nothing personal (Lee Ann, I like your sense of humour so perhaps thats why I feel comfortable asking this question) but I do find it funny that Americans seem to find find the word 'cheap' offensive

Didn't you ever make monster/vampire teeth out of tangerine peel?&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I still do this.

It's not cheap, it's 'value for money'. Trust me, I work in Marketing.

ElendilPickle, you were conned. I don't care if they were cheap, a cracker MUST consist of hat, joke, toy and bang. I think you'd be well within your rights to return them and demand your money back.

In fact as an American you should SUE!

Sue them for every last cent!

you could easily take the gunpowder out - it's on a paper strip threaded through the cracker or you could order these http://mkn.co.uk/cracker/usa

or visit hobby craft and buy a kit to make your own.


I had no idea you didn't have these in the states - how odd.

Fortnum &amp; Mason's offered (or used to, I don't know what they're going to have this Christmas after all the changes over the past year), some incredibly beautiful (and expensive) crackers. They had a separate section of &quot;export&quot; crackers with no gunpowder that could be taken on planes back to the U.S. They were clearly labeled as such for airport inspection. But it would make more sense to get them &quot;complete&quot; with gunpowder stateside from some of the places listed above.