Page 28 - Dec 2022

Cr a c k e r s !

Crackers are now produced worldwide but thanks to
international shipping concerns about explosions some of
the earlier expectation has been left out of modern
examples. Many of these no longer make a sound when
pulled apart. Those manufactured in the UK still offer a
satisfying pop.

Today's Christmas cracker is thus a tiny lesson in holiday
expectations--will it or won't it. Will it pop or will it fizzle,
leaving you with only a paper hat, the absence of a
satisfying pop, a whiff of gunpowder, and a sense of
Winner for the 2nd minor disappointment. You won't know until you pull the
thing if what you got was what you hoped for.
Consecutive Year
Visit Vict orianTradingCompany.com for many items that
recall the traditions of Christmas Past translating into
happy memories for Christmas Present. Shop the winter
cat alog

Our image, above, is from Victorian Trading
Company. In 1861, the same year that the
American Civil War began, London
confectioner Tom Smith, inspired by the tubes
of beautifully wrapped sugared almonds that
came from Paris, invented the Christmas
Cracker. Smith called his novelty "Bangs of
Expectation'; a holiday tradition in the UK was
born.

According to Dr. Rosie Alderson, self
-described science nerd, educator, writer, and
foodie, in addition to their other contents,
always a paper hat, a joke or riddle, and a
small toy, crackers contain a small amount of
an explosive like gunpowder or silver
fulminate. Fulminate is a notoriously unstable
explosive that can actually , under the right
circumstances , self-detonate. Hence, the
name BANGS of Expectation.
Says Dr. Alderson, " A Christmas cracker
contains two bits of card: one is coated in a
small amount of explosive and the other is
rough in texture. When the cracker is pulled
apart, the friction detonates the explosive. The
cylindrical shape of the cracker amplifies the
sound ? for maximum drama."

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