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| All Claresa's Authentic Fairy Gifts and Fairy Party Favors are guaranteed! |
| No material on this website may be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission from Claresa the Fairy:Authentic Fairy Gifts. All material and photos copyright 2004-2007, Clare Grindy. |
| Free Shipping for orders over $75.00 |
| Interesting Facts Regarding Fairy Party Crackers |
Crackers were invented by London confectioner Tom Smith, in 1847, as a development of his
bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper).
As sales of bon bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. His first
tactic was to insert mottos into the wrappers of the sweets (cf. Fortune cookies), but this had
only limited success.
He was inspired to add the "crackle" element when he heard the crackle of a log he'd just put
on the fire. The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger
mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by a small gift. The
new product was initially marketed as the Cosaque (i.e., Cossack), but the onomatopoeic
"cracker" soon became the commonly used name, as rival varieties were introduced to the
market. The other elements of the modern cracker, the gifts, paper hats and varied designs,
were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, as ways of distinguishing the company
from the many copycat cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up.
What is not widely known is that fairies had been wrapping sweets and tiny fairy treasures in bits of leftover
Christmas wrapping paper for centuries before that!
bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper).
As sales of bon bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. His first
tactic was to insert mottos into the wrappers of the sweets (cf. Fortune cookies), but this had
only limited success.
He was inspired to add the "crackle" element when he heard the crackle of a log he'd just put
on the fire. The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger
mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by a small gift. The
new product was initially marketed as the Cosaque (i.e., Cossack), but the onomatopoeic
"cracker" soon became the commonly used name, as rival varieties were introduced to the
market. The other elements of the modern cracker, the gifts, paper hats and varied designs,
were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, as ways of distinguishing the company
from the many copycat cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up.
What is not widely known is that fairies had been wrapping sweets and tiny fairy treasures in bits of leftover
Christmas wrapping paper for centuries before that!