Who buys posh crackers?

[evilharpy]

This is not intended to be goady - you'll never find me on Style & Beauty being arsey about people spending £2k+ on a handbag, and I have boxes full of overpriced Christmas decorations that come out year after year. I'm just genuinely confused on who buys posh Christmas crackers with slightly less crappy but still crappy prizes.

Examples here and here. Now obviously they are a bit nicer than the usual plastic tat you get in a box of crackers from Tesco, but apart from possibly the mini jar of jam, which will last till breakfast the next day, I can't imagine any of these prizes will be kept and treasured beyond the end of Christmas dinner. I could sort of understand it if it was something edible like fancy truffles, or something consumable like make up, or even a set of wind up racing Santas which we had one year (they were shit, they either went in circles or threw themselves off the edge of the table). And far less entertaining than a plastic fortune telling fish.

Does anyone here actually buy these?

I'd be well happy if I got a tiny cheese grater in a crackers thats well handy

You clicked on a thread about Christmas. It has people posting about plans for Christmas on it. Who would ever have thought?

Some people put a great deal of time and thought into Christmas.

You win @WilfredsPies ! I am in awe at the thought of personally engraved wine glasses and embroidered napkins.

Every year I say about now that I’m going to make my own this year. It’s been about 20 years now-I still think it might happen…..

Me! It's only once a year and I do very, very little Christmas stuff. I like the looks of posh crackers, the fact that they feel solid and have a good bang, and the decent quality - even sometimes useable - knick-knacks inside.

Last year, though, the only nice ones I could find had the same knick-knacks in as the previous two years'. It made them feel less worthwhile. I'll trawl this thread later for better recommendations!

If you put personalised gifts in what do you do if the wrong person wins them?

Crackers need a bang.or a crack I am not seeing the point of crackers without a cracker. It just makes them table favours.

I miss the plastic box with a number spinner. You depress the sticking up pin and it would spin and give you a number between 1 and 6. Used to come in the same batch as a slug like fake moustache and a linked rings game.

We usually make ours. A har, a joke from Twinkl and a chocolate bar (usually a tunnocks wafer 😅). We make them at some point in December and put them on the tree. It adds to the very chaotic nature of it, alongside the paper chains, which we also make.

Have bought individual ones from Liberty in the past, with a beauty product for me and a dram for DH. It was doable for a Christmas just for two, but only in years where the gift inside was something we’d actually like. They were about £20 each IIRC. It was like an extra gift.

I love crackers for the aesthetic value they bring to the table and then also the actual cracking of them is a bit of traditional fun at the table. The more expensive ones do look nicer and I don’t buy them for the better insides because let’s be honest most of the stuff is still useless.

The ones with edibles in are better because they are at least consumed. My favorite ones recently had little bottles of craft gin… those went down a treat. But then I do live in Africa and Christmas is usually a 40 degree day so a cold gin and tonic is wonderful!

Yes, the mini screwdrivers are the only cracker-item that’s ever actually proved to be useful.

😂 It sounds so posh, doesn’t it?! In reality, it’s Asda’s wine glasses for 70p each, a piece of vinyl that cost under a pound, a pot of glass etching cream and my cricut machine, and napkins I’d never used (left with me by an ex who had had delusions of grandeur) that I embroidered myself throughout the summer. There was absolutely nothing posh about it, unlike the crackers!

I completely agree. I’m normally done at this point apart from the wrapping, so leaving planning until October feels like an extreme sport.

I like crackers as part of the table setting so I just get what I consider to be the more tasteful ones from Alsdi and hope that they have a good snap and the hats aren't utter trash.

I can answer your question. It is people who are either inured to, or indeed hoping for disappointment.
The first group are incurable optimists, the second are realists but unfortunately are also masochists.

Definitely read 'Swiss card' as 'Swiss chard'!

I get crackertoa crackers (£10 from tkmaxx this year) when u pull them the pop a streamer (or confetti) at the same time, makes them a little more fun for the kids. I like that they’re a little different but that’s about the maximum I’d pay coz the content just ends up in the bin

I used to love the fortune telling plastic fish lol.
My daughter makes her own.. usually with fidget toys for the 3 autistic kids...
Asda do some with a nail file/ measuring tape/ tweezers etc that are about a fiver.. l think they're okay.
When l lived in America l missed the crackers.. it is a British thing.
Just to add a bit of fun when the family is sat round the table.
Wouldn't spend more than a tenner a box.

I’ve put far too much thought into crackers over the years. Bought them for colour, posh ones for a bit, made my own and absolutely agonised over the contents, recycled the tat for a few years, searched high and low for snappers, then bought the cheapest big crackers I could find to fill.

My conclusion is that the contents make no difference whatsoever and I may test this further by putting empty crackers on the table this year.

All that matters really is the bang.

I finished my Christmas shopping this week

well if so, what a crap gift, particularly for posh crackers!

There was a thread last year for decent crackers, no plastic, all recyclable and good gifts- I'm hoping it will be resurrected again this year! I'll see if I can find the link.
I bought the Sockshop ones for Christmas Eve when meant everyone could wear their new Christmas socks on Christmas Day, and the RSPB pin badge ones for Christmas Day- they were very lovely.
Not cheap, but really great gifts, and of course a hat and a joke!
But no, I wouldn't buy the 'luxury' ones any more....

Here, I've found it...
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5230128-bloody-christmas-crackers?reply=140534457

I just want proper glittery, fun-filled crackers for Christmas - and no I do not care about the environmental impact!

Looking at last year's thread, if I wasn't not committed I'd probably go for Build and Play Christmas Building Block Christmas Crackers (6 x 13-inc – The Kuckoo Company. Building the little lego people would be fun.

If you REALLY mean glittery, then you could try these ones https://amzn.eu/d/gIXYZTC

we had them last year and they were completely filled with glittery confetti. Like, each one must have been packed full like they were trying to stop the gifts from rattling around. It totally covered the table and a couple of half filled plates of food, filled a couple of glasses, all over the floor in drifts…

Would not recommend opening them near food.. but they were quite funny, and the plasticky fidget toys were great and have lasted all year.