Party crackers are a British tradition dating back to Victorian times when a confectioner started selling sugared almonds, each with a motto and wrapped in a twisted paper package, as love  tokens.

One day a jet of resin from the confectioners log fire burst into flame with a loud ‘crack’. Using this idea he decided to make a log shaped package that would produce a surprise bang and inside would be an almond and a motto.

It soon became a firm favorite at parties with toys, hats and jokes added to each ‘cracker’.

By the end of the century it was well established as a traditional holiday custom and now each year virtually every household in the UK has crackers.

In recent years crackers have become essential ice breakers at all types of parties, dinner parties, weddings and celebrations. Place one at each place setting for decoration and then pull it open with a friend and share the fun!