Anyone interested in learning about the British tradition of Christmas crackers (stop–you don’t eat them), not to mention how it came into being, can read about it on Bit about Britain’s post.
Notes from the U.K.
Exploring the spidery corners of a culture and the weird stuff that tourist brochures ignore.
Notes from the U.K. 
Hang on…
Does this mean christmas crackers are no universal… I think I glossed over that in my mind when I read your last post?
Is this like boxing day? a thing that I assumed happened everywhere but is actually a wierd British thing?
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Not only does the U.S. not celebrate Boxing Day, we don’t actually recognize Dec. 26. We just sleep through it and leave it off the calendars. Really. It’s not well known, but that’s because everybody but me is asleep.
As for crackers, no they’re not universal either. Funny world out there, isn’t it?
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Sleeping through it is a better choice than most people’s boxing day activity which is eat loads more and do nothing unless you are a) a morris dancer (we are dancing) b) a child with a new bike
I had no idea about crackers…they are strange really, especially as practically everything in them gets thrown out… unless you buy expensive ones…
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There’s something about surprises in shiny packages that gets to us–even sensible adults. When I was a kid, I used to buy Crackerjacks–which I hated the taste of–because each box had a stupid toy inside. I can still remember the moment when I realized I didn’t like the toy either. I was sitting in Central Park, on a bench. But crackers? Hey, there’s no horrible candied popcorn to eat, you just pull your end.
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That is true :-)
I used to do the same with frosties and kinder eggs until I realised I didn’t like them much…
and there is always a chance you will get a fortune telling fish, thus negating the need to invent time travel…
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I’ve never really trusted fortune telling fish. If they knew the future, wouldn’t they avoid getting caught?
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This is a very good point…
You’d think they’d manage to avoid being put in a cardboard tube…
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You would. It’s not fish-friendly space.
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Not at all!!
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I love the tradition of Christmas crackers and am happy they seem to be catching on a bit more on this side of the pond!
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I hate to sound cynical (that’s not actually true), but if it can be sold, someone will come along and sell it. So we shouldn’t be surprised.
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Excellent link, wonderful article – thank you :-)
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It coincides too neatly to ignore.
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His post is excellent!
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Merry Christmas to everyone
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And to you.
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