In one of the Harry Potter books there’s a line about Sirius ‘pulling a lonely cracker’ with the house elf. That got me to thinking: What if you don’t have anyone to pull a cracker with? Pull it yourself? And when I mail out Christmas gifts, and the person lives alone, is it proper to send one cracker (for the friend); or should I send two in case my friend has company?
I’ve pulled crackers by myself. Actually, we used to get them here at work in our Christmas stockings, and everyone pulled his/her own. Like many solitary activities, it wasn’t as satisfying but it got the job done.
As for the friend who lives alone: send one. It isn’t your responsibility to anticipate every houseguest configuration your friend might have. Besides, if they are alone the presence of a second cracker will just remind them of their alone-ness … and how many paper crowns does a person need? 
I’ve pulled crackers by myself. Actually, we used to get them here at work in our Christmas stockings, and everyone pulled his/her own. Like many solitary activities, it wasn’t as satisfying but it got the job done.
As for the friend who lives alone: send one. It isn’t your responsibility to anticipate every houseguest configuration your friend might have. Besides, if they are alone the presence of a second cracker will just remind them of their alone-ness … and how many paper crowns does a person need?
Please to explain? What means “pulling lonely cracker”?
I’ve seen christmas crackers in stores but have never actually seen one opened. What’s the tradition/ritual involved?
Ok, I know that I didn’t click “submit reply” more than once … let alone 5 minutes apart. :dubious:
Lonely = only. The way you open Christmas crackers is by pulling both ends of it, which tears the cracker open and makes the cap go off. So “pulling a lonely cracker” means opening the only one. 
For their history, I found this site.
And if you don’t stop that, you could go blind.
I say send one. If I were your friend, I’d be thankful you sent any at all.
The mental image I had when I saw this thread was someone puliing a red children’s wagon with a single wheat cracker in it, or a poor Southerner. The British meaning never would have occurrred to me.
And here I was picturing some Brit trying to hook up a one night stand in an Alabama bar.
From what I remember, everyone sits around the table, and crosses their arms so that they’re reaching to the person on their left with their right hand, etc. Each person grabs their end of the cracker that the people next to them are holding, and pulls. The crackers I’ve opened had little jokes inside them. I can’t remember ever getting anything else, but it was only a couple of Christmases that I was involved in that tradition.
Usually the have a paper hat - nice colours like orange and purple, you know, a TERRIBLE joke, a useless llittle plastic toy… I think that’s all. It’s sort of enough, really. But they do say “bang”, so that’s sort of fun.
Not necessarily useless!
A couple of years ago my cracker contained a neon-green folding comb/‘brush’. I keep it in my car, and it’s come in handy on numberous occasions!
Same here.
Numerous!. I’m tired and have been making typos. This one got through. Maybe I should go read.
x 1000
A cracker is obviously not what I’M thinking it is, that is, a flat, squarish baked wheat item one puts in soup. So “pulling a cracker” is bringing all sorts of mental pictures to mind, not the least of which is the “one night stand in redneck land” one others have brought up.
See the link in Misnomer’s post. Also think of “cracker” in terms of “firecracker,” only without the fire. They pop when you pull them.
About two years ago I got a great box of Christmas crackers that had really good things in them–miniature decks of cards, key fobs, tiny notebooks with leather covers and clasps, a teeny toolkit.
I wish, wish, WISH I could have kept in mind what company made these wondeful Christmas crackers. They were the best ever.
Derrr. I saw his link, but had a blonde moment and for some reason didn’t equate it to answering the question, but the “history” part being something else…What I can’t say like I said “blonde moment”. 
At any rate, THanks Tenar for the link, what a lovely and unusual gift idea.
Actually, the friend who lives alone has family nearby. She won’t be alone for the holidays. I was asking more generally. I hadn’t thought about the implications of someone who lives alone and who will be alone sitting there looking at an unused cracker.
It’s downright depressing, isn’t it?
Her link.
Sorry for the downer.
But on second thought, having two crackers and no one to pull them with can’t be much more depressing than having one cracker and no one to pull it with.