In England, the shops are now full of Christmas crackers — every shape and size and decoration of cracker can be found, lining the shelves of every grade of Christmas area — from low to high end. “Oh, you must take some crackers home!” my friend urged, as we looked at some particularly attractive ones. “No, dear,” I noted. “They are not allowed on the plane, remember?”
And that is true. You may not take a Christmas cracker on an airplane. I see you shaking your heads in disbelief. No crackers on the flight? Nope, not those kinds of crackers! You may certainly transport a Ritz Cracker or even a Barnum Animal Cracker — no worries there.
And this is where English and American English can get lost in translation. You see, the Christmas cracker to the English has been a tradition for about 150 years now. They were invented by Tom Smith (1823-1869), an innovative baker in the East End of London who initially produced wedding cakes and sweets. After traveling to Paris, he discovered the French “bon bon,” a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper that sparked his imagination. Smith added a small love motto inside the wrapper to add a “je ne sais quoi” to his invention. His idea to add the explosive “crack” or “pop” came later, in an effort to imitate a crackling log fire, a nod to the winter season. (Hence the reasoning why you can’t take a Christmas cracker on a plane.)
Though the crack is a very mild one, when the cracker is snapped or pulled between two people prior to a seasonal meal (and the treat, hat, joke is then kept by the person who gets the largest piece of the cracker), it is still a minor spark or snap that is created, and the FAA would likely not go for that! History tells that the first cracker was patented in 1847 by the clever Smith, and his son Walter later added the paper hats to create a novelty for all festive occasions; so, as you can see, they have been around for a while.
Growing up, we always had Christmas crackers by our plates. Our day would not be complete without them. There is copious photographic evidence of us all wearing these fancy-colored paper crowns held inside the cracker throughout our Christmas dinner. Though the jokes and treats or toys have definitely got worse over the years, I still get a little rise when the table is laid, and the crackers are laid out neatly by each place setting with festive colors and decoration on the outside of each.
Even though I have not been able to import them from my homeland where are there are boxes and boxes to be found, once in a while you can find some nice ones over here — mostly in an English style. Last year I was thrilled to find boxes in TJ Maxx and guess what everyone got for Christmas.
Mostly our clan cannot wait for Christmas, we have to kick off our cracker season at Thanksgiving, where there’s an anxious flurry right beforehand as we look for last year’s left-over crackers to make sure there are enough for everyone at the dinner table. Photo memories of Thanksgiving pasts also show various family members who are now longer with us embracing the cracker tradition.
And traditions like this are important in families. Now our beloved Aunt Marvel is no longer of this planet, my daughter has taken over the festive tradition of the Deviled Eggs. It was always Marvel’s task to bring the eggs to the gathering. When she passed, someone else had to stand up and take over. We have our own tradition of opening a box of See’s candies on Christmas Eve that fills my husband’s heart with joy. Some mulled wine must be made (slowly on the stove with cinnamon, brown sugar, slices of orange and lemon), and sipped on dark winter afternoons.
In years’ past, we have traveled to Moss Landing, visited the wild and windy beach where we released my Ma’s ashes decades ago and purchased the makings of cioppino to feast on Christmas Eve along with slabs of French bread and plenty of wine. This year, we have decided to revamp that tradition and bring it home again. Covid messed with all kinds of things, but I think our traditions also took a hit on the head and we need to think back to where we were before all hell broke loose.
I’m glad that my immediate family over here in the States does not care for the fruitcake or Christmas pudding tradition. At my sister’s house abroad, you can not only find Christmas cake that has been maturing (with rum or brandy no less) since it was baked in November, but Christmas cake does not seem to have an expiry date, because of the alcohol, so it can go on and on. Sister never opened her last year’s cake, so it is on for the full mature flavor this year. She will just add the layer of yellow marzipan and thick white icing. I cannot think of anything worse.
Sister will also bake mince pies (seriously gross; for those of you uninformed mince pie people, mincemeat in this case is not the English version of ground beef, but the filling used to make mince pie — a classic pastry covered delight of dried fruits, warm spices, distilled spirits like brandy and traditionally suet… though I think that suet may have disappeared too from the oft vegetarian households these days…) and she will also steam a nice and hearty Christmas pudding (more of the same, but a hot and sticky fruit cake/pudding that traditionally has brandy poured over it and is lit at the table and then consumed with brandy butter, custard and cream).
When I was a nipper, I remember a silver sixpence could be found in the Christmas pudding and whoever was the lucky finder (hopefully not in their mouth!) was said to be the beneficiary of good luck and prosperity for the coming year. Since the sixpence is now obsolete, I believe you can account for inflation and put in a pound coin or something into the batter, though I think that tradition has likely gone by the wayside. Since I couldn’t stand any of that sultana/raisin/candied peel/marzipan mess, my mother would always kindly bake me a sticky ginger cake with no raisins or anything like that inside. I always thought that a bit special and I am currently wondering, perhaps, if I should kick that tradition back up and make it my own.
After all, these fun traditions can help ease the noise and stress of the holidays and remind us what it is to be home and healthy with our loved ones and working on the memory bank, while remaining grateful for all our blessings and good fortune. What do you do to make it special?
