Christmas Crackers: History, What Is Inside and How to Recycle Them

Published October 25, 2026 · GiveOwl

Crackers sit on the table at most British Christmas dinners. This page sets out what museums and heritage bodies say about their history, notes where the sources disagree, and covers making your own and recycling.

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When you pull them

Crackers belong with the Christmas dinner. In 2026 Christmas Day is Friday 25 December, a bank holiday according to GOV.UK. For the rest of the day, see Christmas dinner and Boxing Day traditions.

A short history

1840–41: Historic England says the confectioner Tom Smith discovered bonbons, sugared almonds in twists of tissue paper, in Paris in 1840. The following year he put a small love motto in the paper.
1847: The V&A says Smith patented his first cracker device in 1847 and perfected the mechanism in the 1860s. Historic England also dates the invention to 1847.
The name: Smith first called them "Cosaques", after Cossack soldiers who were said to fire their guns into the air (Historic England). Royal Museums Greenwich adds that they were also sold as "Bangs of expectation".
The snap: The V&A describes two narrow strips of paper layered together, with silver fulminate painted on one side and an abrasive surface on the other. When the cracker is pulled, friction creates a small explosion. The idea is supposed to have come from the crackle of a log on the fire.
Hats and gifts: The V&A says Smith's son Walter added the elaborate paper hats and sourced novelties and gifts from Europe, America and Japan. Royal Museums Greenwich says that by the 1870s crackers contained the jokes and hats we know today.
Not everyone agrees on who was first: Royal Museums Greenwich says Smith is widely credited, but the Italian confectioner Sparagnapane may have sold crackers first, and silver fulminate "snaps" had existed for a while.
Beyond Christmas: Historic England says that by 1900 T. Smith & Co. made crackers for every major celebration, from the 1900 Paris Exhibition to the 1926 world tour of Edward, Prince of Wales.
The Royal Household: Since 1910 the Smith group has been the official supplier of Christmas crackers and wrapping paper to the Royal Household, an honour Historic England says it still holds.
Wartime: The V&A says the Second World War brought paper rationing and a restriction on making snaps. Historic England adds that the Ministry of Defence used Smith's snap strips at training camps, where a bundle made a noise like machine-gun fire.
Later: In the 1950s and 1960s Tom Smith & Co. was making 30,000 crackers a week, and today crackers are made "for every pocket, from luxurious to fun-sized" (V&A).

What is inside a cracker?

Historic England lists a snap, a motto and a small gift; the V&A and Royal Museums Greenwich add the paper hat and the joke. What is actually in a box today depends on the maker and the price, so check the packaging. If a cracker holds anything edible, read the label for allergens before you give it to someone else.

Make your own

Recycle Now suggests make-your-own cracker kits, or reusing loo roll tubes and gift wrap, which also lets you put a small, non-plastic gift in each one. A simple version without a bang:

You need

1 cardboard tube per cracker, for example a loo roll tube
paper to wrap it in, a little more than twice as long as the tube and wide enough to go round it once
2 pieces of ribbon or string
a joke on a slip of paper, a paper hat cut from tissue paper, and a small gift
tape

Method

Fold the hat, then put it in the tube with the joke and the gift.
Roll the tube in the paper so that the paper sticks out equally at both ends, and tape the seam.
Pinch the paper in at both ends of the tube and tie each end with ribbon.
Decorate with plain paper or card if you want the cracker to be recyclable afterwards (see below).

These are our own simple steps and we have not tested them. We do not give instructions for making a snap: the V&A and Historic England describe it as a chemical device, and it is not something to improvise. If you want the bang, buy ready-made crackers or a kit and follow the maker's instructions.

Can you recycle crackers?

Recycle Now says the answer is "complicated": some parts can be recycled and others cannot, and overall it is best to choose eco-friendly or homemade crackers. Its other advice for the Christmas table:

Cardboard tubes and paper: your local authority will collect toilet roll tubes and cardboard boxes at home.
Wrapping paper: some local authorities do not accept it. If yours does, only non-foil paper is accepted. Recycle Now's "scrunch test": if the paper does not spring back when you scrunch it, it is non-foil and can be recycled.
Cards and envelopes: recyclable unless they have foil, glitter, ribbons or bows; remove these first.

Collections differ between councils, so check your local authority's website or Recycle Now's recycling locator.