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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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What does it mean when a person is discribed as a "real cracker jack"? I heard this a long time ago.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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There was a popular confection by that name consisting of molasses candy coated popcorn, in a cardboard carton the size of a one pound sugar box. And every box had a small metal casting of animals,etc.,as a prize which made it extra popular with little kids, who used to collect and trade them.
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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ohmygosh, bill, i can't believe you remembered that. i never would've recalled those delightful little metal tigers and such had you not posted. Cracker Jacks are still around, but nowadays all you get is some crummy little lick-your-hand-and-stick-it-on tattoo.  can anyone remember any other prizes? i remember them being in a package similar to a bandaid... and have a vague recollection of little brightly-colored jointed plastic animals, kind of two-dimensional. did they ever give out jacks... as in the X X X o X X X game?
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Faldage points out: The Atlanta minor league baseball team (before the Braves moved in) was known as the Crackers. The Negro Leagues team was the Black Crackers.
Beat me to it.... "Black Crackers" being a particularly ironic name (if remembered etymology serves)
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journeyman
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journeyman
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What does it mean when a person is discribed as a "real cracker jack"? I heard this a long time ago.
As I've come across it, it means the person does surprising things. Nutty, crazy... in a kind of tolerated /amusing sort of way. "A real character".
HTH
Ali
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Crackers are festively decorated paper tubes with a twist in the paper about a quarter of the way from each end. There are also two long thin card bands going down the middle joined with some sort of explosive substance at the midpoint so that it makes a bang when you pull them apart; two people do this by each holding on to one of the ends of the paper tube and pulling. The large middle section also contains a paper party hat, a small toy, and an execrable joke or riddle (the worse the better). They're most often used at Christmas dinners or lunches.
Bingley
Bingley
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old hand
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old hand
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I once saw these crackers (also popular in Australia), through the shop window of Harrods, London, for around 80 quid a pop! Imagine if that didn't make a bang!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Mr Bingley's description was "perfick". It's a bit out of season but here is some more information: Christmas CrackersThe Christmas cracker was invented in 1847 by Tom Smith, a baker of wedding cakes from Clerkenwell, London. On a trip to Paris in 1840 Smith discovered the "bon-bon," a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of paper. Back in London, his "new" sweets became quite popular. When he noticed that young men were buying them for their sweethearts he began to place love mottoes on small slips of paper inside the wrapping. In 1846, standing at his fireplace, the crackle of a log gave him the flash of inspiration for the cracker. After much experimentation (and burning hands and furniture), he got it right. He pasted small strips of saltpetre to two strips of thin card. As the cards were pulled away from each other, the friction created a crack and a spark. (The concept is still used today.) By 1947, Tom Smith's cracking sweets were the fashion. They were first known as "Cosaques" after the cracking of the Cossack's whips as they rode through Paris during the Franco-Prussian wars. The name stuck for about another decade before simply being known as Christmas crackers. The cracker concept was hot and others were quick to copy Smith's idea. The outer wrapper became the showcase in the fight for market share, with more varied and colourful designs. They were also being sold 12, sometimes 6, in a matching box. It forced Smith to head for the patent office to protect his design, and his company, called the Tom Smith Crackers. By the 1880s, Smith's company produced more than a hundred cracker designs. By 1900, Smith sold more than 13 million crackers. They were being used not just at Christmas, but at just about any festive occasion, including fairs and coronations. In 1933, printed foil wrappers with individual designs were launched. The contents became more complicated, some featuring glass pendants, brooches, bracelets and other jewellery. from http://www.didyouknow.com/xmas/xmascrackers.htmHere's how to make one: http://www.imagitek.com/xmas/crafts/cracker.htmlThis site: http://www.absolutelycrackers.comincludes the following gem: A CHRISTMAS cracker-maker has had to hire a joke checker - because Americans don't get our gags.
The new recruit has to weed out "peculiarly English" jokes after complaints from U.S. distributors.
Gags they didn't get include:
Q: What mint can't you eat? A: The Royal Mint.
Q: Where do policemen live? A: Letsbe Avenue.
Q: Which panto is set in a chemist's shop? A: Puss in Boots.
Boss Keith Langford, 30, of Absolutely Crackers in Milton Keynes, Bucks, said: "We don't want to upset the Americans. We do a lot of business with them."
Published in The Sun (UK)
10 December 1998
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Sign me up as one the Americans who doesn't get those jokes. Could we have some explanations, please?
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journeyman
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journeyman
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Sign me up as one the Americans who doesn't get those jokes. Could we have some explanations, please?
I think I get the Royal Mint joke, when you take this definition of Mint: 1.A place where the coins of a country are manufactured by --- or: 3.An abundant amount, especially of money.
But as for the others... I can't even pretend to have a clue. I want the answers too!
Ali
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