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Christmas crackers were invented in the 1840s by London baker and confectioner Tom Smith. Tom was hardworking and creative. In Paris in 1840, he discovered the "bon bon" - a sugared almond wrapped in colored tissue paper. He introduced this in London, and it later evolved into the cracker.
The majority of the "bon bons" were sold at Christmas, and Tom looked for ideas to make them even more appealing. He got the idea of the popping sound while sitting in front of his fire and hearing the sparks. He devised a way to make the crackers pop when pulled apart by two people, added contents, and the cracker was born!
Tom's crackers were a huge hit, and he produced them to celebrate major events in addition to Christmas. Crackers were made for the Paris Exhibition of 1900, the 1926 World Tour of the Prince of Wales, etc.
Tom Smith lived to see his firm grow out of its original premises in Goswell Road and move to Finsbury Square in the City of London. Tom Smith's three sons took over the business and expanded it even more. A drinking fountain in Finsbury Square commemorates the life of the man who invented the great British cracker.
During World War II Tom Smith's firm was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence to fold and tie bundles of 3 - 6 snaps together with special string and regulation knots. These bundles were used by soldiers in training - when the string was pulled, they mimicked the noise of machine gun fire. After the war, vast quantities of the surplus cracker snaps were released back into the cracker trade.
Tom Smith had a good eye for business and also a sense of humor. "What people like," he used to day, "is something new. And if it's not new, the art is to find a way of selling it."
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