# £500 Christmas Crackers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2019, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531 "2019-11-16T07:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/1 "2019-11-16T07:12:31Z")
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.](https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/harrods-of-london/traditional-christmas-crackers-set-of-6-p000000000006369349?bcid=1502363833638) 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. Who the heck would buy such things? ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/2 "2019-11-16T07:37:04Z")
You only need to buy 4 boxes of crackers to be eligible for Santa: [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/08/harrods-restricts-christmas-grotto-to-2000-plus-spenders](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/08/harrods-restricts-christmas-grotto-to-2000-plus-spenders) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/3 "2019-11-16T07:41:07Z")
That much for a box of crackers? I expect Cheez-It or better. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/4 "2019-11-16T12:08:23Z")
(My wife in the US just told you have to pay to sit on Santa’s lap in the US too. I blame Donald J Trump.) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/5 "2019-11-16T12:13:40Z")
I totally misunderstood this application of the word “cracker.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/6 "2019-11-16T12:16:36Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > 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.](https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/harrods-of-london/traditional-christmas-crackers-set-of-6-p000000000006369349?bcid=1502363833638) 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. > > Who the heck would buy such things? People with more money than brains. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/7 "2019-11-16T14:25:32Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/8 "2019-11-16T22:40:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/9 "2019-11-16T23:01:08Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/10 "2019-11-16T23:04:41Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > (My wife in the US just told you have to pay to sit on Santa’s lap in the US too. I blame Donald J Trump.) That’s not fair. Surely Trump pays people to sit on his lap? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/11 "2019-11-17T02:39:18Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I totally misunderstood this application of the word “cracker.” 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\*. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/12 "2019-11-17T02:59:50Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/13 "2019-11-17T03:19:43Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > That’s not fair. Surely Trump pays people to sit on his lap? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/14 "2019-11-17T16:02:14Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > (My wife in the US just told you have to pay to sit on Santa’s lap in the US too. Not so. There appear to be plenty of free opportunities to do so ([this list for example](https://www.charlotteonthecheap.com/free-pictures-santa/), 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. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/15 "2019-11-17T18:05:32Z")
No, I’m with Paul… whatthehell’s in a twenty dollar Christmas cracker? A REAL hat? Gift card to Starbucks? Movie tickets? Plastic whistle? Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/16 "2019-11-17T22:01:17Z")
They sell 'em in the US at fancy stores like [Williams Sonoma](https://www.williams-sonoma.com/search/results.html?words=christmas%20crackers). I’ve bought them. I can’t even remember what was in them so they can’t be all THAT great. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/17 "2019-11-18T01:19:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/18 "2019-11-18T01:26:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/19 "2019-11-18T01:43:47Z")
We have them every Christmas. Not hard to find in Canada, and even the fancy ones aren’t anyway near THAT expensive! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531/20 "2019-11-18T07:18:45Z")
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 … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/500-christmas-crackers/843531.md?page=2)