Harrods is in the news. They are charging to see Santa this year. So I went over to their website. The Christmas grotto is fully booked for the year, by the way.
I ended up looking at their best Christmas crackers. A little less than £500 for a half-dozen.
What the jolly heck could possibly be in a £75 Christmas cracker? Silk folding fans? Gold-encrusted sweets? Funny hats made of banknotes? A certificate to see Santa next year? I would like to know. Oddly the site does not say.
My link says $111.07 for a set of six of Christmas crackers, so less than $20 each. (And, for those who don’t know, a “Christmas cracker” is not a type of cookie, but rather a table decoration that you snap open with a “crack” and contain little gifts inside.)
Yeah…I can’t find an option to have it show the price in pounds, but all the currencies I can recognize to run a conversion (US and Canadian dollars, Euros, etc) come to prices which convert to ~£87.
£500 would be about the price of 6 packs (not a 6 pack)…
Still rather exorbitant for a pack of Christmas crackers, but not £500 exorbitant.
This meaning of the word “cracker” and the item itself seems to be British. I’m not aware of these things existing in the US.
I think this is the source of some puzzlement for me at least in the use of this word in the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings. In describing Bilbo’s birthday party, Tolkien says “There were, as has been said, many young hobbits present. Hundreds of musical crackers had been pulled.” I guess this is referring to this type of Christmas cracker. Confusingly, he also seems to use the word for what in the US would be called a “firecracker”. In describing Gandalf’s arrival in Hobbiton, after a description of how famous his firework displays were, he says “but not a single squib or cracker was forthcoming, to the disappointment of the onlookers.”
I did, too, but understood once it was pointed out. I remember a magic version from a Harry Potter book (they made real hats) and real ones used in one Christmas episode of a BBC show–possibly* Doctor Who*.
They sell them here (Austin TX USA), at World Market for one. I don’t know anyone who has ever bought them. I haven’t (but I might some day.) They aren’t hugely expensive though. Hey, I wonder if something bad would pop out of one if I got them for Thanksgiving and had my guests “pop” them after the turkey. I’ll report back.
No, the way it works is that you pay cash in advance for the privilege of sitting in his lap, but when you get there it’s actually a photo op with a cardboard cutout of Eric.
Not so. There appear to be plenty of free opportunities to do so (this list for example, though it doesn’t specify lap-sitting).
My mind boggles at the thought of taking Pluto the spaniel over to have his picture taken with Santa. Probably he’d grab Santa’s hat or other item of clothing and race around the mall with it.
They sell 'em in the US at fancy stores like Williams Sonoma. I’ve bought them. I can’t even remember what was in them so they can’t be all THAT great.
The stuff is a cracker is supposed to be shoddy. For those who do not use them every year, imagine the toy you get in a box of Cracker Jacks. It is like that.
I made them for the lil’Wrekker’s elementary school Christmas parties. The kids loved them. I spent about $1 each.
$20 bucks a pop (heh) must be for a fancy party.
yeah we buy them every year at Walmart for the kids … just little things like you’d get in cracker jacks or cereal premiums …a paper crown a joke book a 1 or 2 inch toy car or doll and a piece of “penny candy” (usually a big lemon/orange/grape/apple head )…nothing special for adults
If they’re made right they’ll “pop” like a balloon when ya pull it …
