Editing Christmas cracker (section)

==Tradition==
[[File:Christmas cracker pull.jpg|thumb|Dinner party guests pull a cracker]]
Crackers are traditionally pulled during Christmas dinner or at Christmas parties. One version of the cracker ritual holds that the person who ends up with the larger end of cracker earns the right to keep the contents of the cardboard tube. Sometimes, each participant retains ownership of their own cracker and keeps its contents regardless of the outcome. Christmas crackers traditionally contain a colourful crown-shaped hat made of tissue paper, a small [[toy]], a [[plastic]] model, or a trinket, and a small strip of [[paper]] with a [[motto]], a [[joke]], a [[riddle]], or a piece of trivia.<ref>Although in most cases the contents of Christmas crackers have little monetary value, Christmas crackers are sometimes marketed as [[luxury good]]s. In 2009, [[Harrod's]] created a Christmas cracker that retailed at $1,000: [http://elitechoice.org/2009/11/10/harrods-luxury-6-christmas-cracker-collection-bling-it-up-this-festive-season/ "Harrods Luxury 6 Christmas Cracker Collection: Bling it up this festive season!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009093955/http://elitechoice.org/2009/11/10/harrods-luxury-6-christmas-cracker-collection-bling-it-up-this-festive-season/ |date=9 October 2011 }}</ref> The paper hats, with the appearance of crowns, are usually worn at [[Christmas dinner]]. The tradition of wearing festive hats is believed to date back to Roman times and the [[Saturnalia]] celebrations, which also involved decorative headgear.<ref name="bbc america" />

Christmas crackers are also associated with [[Knut's party|Knut's parties]], held in Sweden at the end of the Christmas season.

Author and historian [[John Julius Norwich]] (Viscount Norwich) was known for sending his family and friends a Christmas Cracker each year which was a kind of expanded Christmas card of anecdotes, trivia and witticisms collected from history and literature. Initially he printed them privately to give to friends but also sold via some London bookstores. His 49th and final cracker was published posthumously<ref>"A Christmas Cracker being a commonplace selection", 2018, ISBN 978-0-9932126-2-8</ref> in the year of his death.