I Just Learned Why They're Called 'Christmas Crackers', And It's Not Why I Thought

We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about why we have Advent calendars, where Christmas trees come from, and what “Yule” really means. 

But to be honest, it was only when I spoke to an American friend recently that I realised “crackers” is a bit of a funny name to call the Christmassy cardboard tubes which contain little toys and bad jokes. 

After all, they don’t really “crack”; it’s more of a “bang” (though I guess “bangers” is already taken by another British institution, sausages).