Christmas crackers came from a gravity-defying burst of creativity by Victorian sweet-maker Tom Smith. After seeing paper-wrapped sweets in Paris, he tried to sell similar in London. And failed. So he started to add in little jokes, then inexplicably incorporated a bang after hearing a log crackle, then dramatically scaled it up, and eventually chucked the sweet altogether in favour of trinkets. Remarkably, it has been tradition since.
<li>Robin Reed box of eight silver fill your own crackers
<li>Length 30cm, diameter 5cm each