I don’t think they are popular as they once were,Minx, I also agree they are a rip off.
They are very pretty to look at, plus you can use them year after year as long as you don’t pull them, I nearly bought some from Wilco to go onto my new tree, but declined as I thought they were to expensive.
My dad used to decorate the tree with crackers! My three sisters and I would try wiggle the crackers to find the one with the ring inside! Then we’d hide it somewhere in the tree - so we’d know where to get it after Christmas Day dinner! But it never stayed long in its designated hiding spot!
So, all four of us sisters knew exactly what was inside the crackers!
But, none of us knew what the other was doing! We all loved that ring so we all always changed it’s location!
Ah, lovely memories of Christmas as a child! I loved that ring
I remember the indoor fireworks one could get. Lighting a bit of card and seeing the “fizz” of the sparkler follow a line on the card to make a shape . Now it would be thought of as dangerous by todays “mamby-pambies” who are even scared by their own shadow.
Sparklers were always a thing after the Christmas dinner as well
I remember one year we had some with wind up reindeers in, and you had a race. And some with whistles in with different notes, so you could play a tune
But ever since the kids were small, I’ve filled my own crackers. You can get a kit but sometimes it’s cheaper to get a box from the pound shop and tart them up
I used to put in things like stickers, little action figures, dinosaurs, badges, erasers, pencil sharpeners, balloon rockets etc. I’d decorate the hats they supplied with sparkles and felt pens. And write some better jokes and quiz questions on little cards.
And then I decorate the outside with bits and pieces from my craft box
I still do it now we mostly have grown ups and put in things like tea bags, key rings, shopping trolley coins, mini screwdrivers, shower gel sachets, face packs etc, with a few “special ones” marked with a smilie face for the children
If you get a pound shop box of crackers, open them up and fill them with bits and pieces you can make a box of “luxury” crackers for half the price you pay for luxury ones in the shops
Because I do love them, a bit of fun and you have to wear your paper hat on Christmas
Since I retired, I’ve made my own with specific little ‘surprises’ inside chosen and bought through the year. It’s easy to do once the snaps have been found; I buy mine from a little outlet in Isleworth ( Worton Hall Industrial Estate) Must Be Bonkers👍
We collected Wade Whimsies so every year we’d had a box of those crackers, we had bought a few, until we found out they were worth money unopened. So we sold all the unopened boxes.
I still have some of the Whimsies we collected from the crackers.
They call them Bon Bons here I don’t know why.They are useful for decoration and you use the same ones every year.
But if you want to pull a cracker,that’s another thing all together.
We also call them Bon Bons! I used the English terminology for the thread. Like all good things, it’s probably a Southern Hemisphere thing - we’re streaks ahead - you know
inside! Then we’d hide it somewhere in the tree - so we’d know where to get it after Christmas Day dinner! But it never stayed long in its designated hiding spot!
