Why do Brits wear little crowns when celebrating Christmas?

OP, what is your level of education?

Not OP but I have a Masters and I somehow missed that course on Little Paper Crowns at Christmas dinner. So, educate us, R1.

Because the Brits have the tradition of Christmas Crackers which contain those paper hats/crowns. It's part of the fun of Christmas.

And, OP and R2 have apparently never watched much British TV or film since any show or movie set at Christmas will include the "pulling of the Christmas crackers" followed by the donning of the paper crowns.

They're all QUEENS!

Not a Brit here, but I go to a holiday party every year where we do the crackers. This year my crown came out torn. Is this a sign?

seems fun

It's one of those British Christmas things like roast goose (two whole tablespoons of meat and six pounds of fat) plum pudding (no plums, not actually a pudding, tastes like boiled fruitcake, looks like liquid shit) and singing "ho ho ho!" around the mistletoe that make no sense to anyone not a islander savage.

Yanks always feeding their little egos need to shut the fuck up and pay attention for a second. The crown comes from a little fireworky game that one plays at the feasting table. The winner gets the prizes inside the Christmas cracker. There is gun powder involved, jokes and a paper crown. It is very Victorian. Go have Christmas with a Brit and you will be informed of the process.

R8, stick your littlie paper crown up your ass.

Or, rather, 'arse".

Wouldn't want to offend your fucking sensibilities, cunt.

Irish people do it too. It's not retarded.

Have you never heard of Google, where you can ask shit without pissing off an entire culture?

I thought pissing off an entire culture was the point here.

When I was a kid in Australia we had those too.

problem was Christmas in Australia is summer and those dumb hats made you hotter.

Fuck off OP. You ignorant bitch.

It’s just a bit of harmless nonsense, and children love it. What’s OP’s problem?

OPs retardation has at least given me the mildly interesting realization crackers are only a British/commonwealth thing and not universal to Christmas like the tree.

From the same folks who were still watching minstrel shows at Christmas in the 70s! The 1970s!!

I think the crowns are cute.

I've always wondered what they were for, so thanks R8 for the explanation.

But how do you put a prize in a cracker??

Christ on a cracker. Not THAT kind of cracker—it ain’t a biscuit, dummy.

Christmas crackers are used in New Zealand too, left over from our Colonial days like Australia. R19, look at OP's pic, each place setting has a rolled tube of decorative cardboard tied with ribbons. Once the ends are pulled between friends they crack (gun powder) and split. Out pops a joke, toy/candy/sweet and a hat. Can't believe this still exists.

Is that a turkey in OP's photo?

I'm struggling to understand what's so offensive about Christmas crackers. They're just a laugh.

I first remember seeing them in the movie "Billy Elliott."

And again in "Bridget Jones' Diary."

I love Billy Elliot, great film.

I did this tonight with my partner's Australian family. When everyone puts on the little crown, the oldest male at the table carves the koala, the Australian alternative to turkey.

R27, just watch for Chlamydia, koala are known to carry it.

OP Brits are raised to respect their traditions. Your ignorance of them only makes you look dumb and untraveled.

Yes—crackers being the height of Anglo-Saxon sophistication….

r11 Why not?? That is what brits and Europeans do to Americans. ask questions they can google and obsessed with bashing and critiquing the USA.

Some context-

The fat whores are wondering where the cheese is now.

Wow! Such context! Illuminating…

I learned about them from the Are You Being Served episode "Christmas Crackers"

From r32's context:

He decided to make a log shaped package that would produce a surprise

Hardly innovative.

My log shaped package no longer surprises me.

Erna’s logs come in special packaging and with sound effects, too.

[QUOTE]The winner gets the prizes inside the Christmas cracker.

Winner of what? There's a a contest?

I attended a Christmas dinner about 20 years ago at an anglophile friend's place. I remember the crown and candy, but not a joke. I don't know if manufacturers are trying to make them catch on in the US, but I saw crackers at Target a couple of years ago. Cost Plus carries them every year.

That gunpowder always scared me.

I'm an American who grew up with crackers at Christmas eve dinner but those relatives traveled and one was retired CIA.

It's getting worse y'all, right down the shitter.

Children? My whole extended family loves them. Sharing awful jokes around the table is a bonding experience. Besides, if you buy nice ones, the prizes inside can be fun.

Christmas crackers have been sold in the US for decades, OP. If you don't want them, fine -but let the rest of us enjoy them.

Merry Christmas!

The crowns in OP’s pic don’t look particularly small.

OP is that loonie poster who thinks people who have joined-up writing are showing off!

What about your Groundhog nonsense? Peanut butter and “jelly”. Southern food? Your recent presidential choice?

[quote]Not a Brit here, but I go to a holiday party every year where we do the crackers. This year my crown came out torn. Is this a sign?

it means....the death of a monarch!!

If Pioneer Woman or Chop and Joanna Gaines had crackers on their shows, they'd take off here. It's a haus frauey thing. The Anglophile friend I mentioned upthread loves decorating and housewares and all that stuff

While we should show toleration towards different Christmas traditions like this one, it would still be proper to acknowledge that the practice is indeed retarded.

Don't be mean, R48.

The Brits can't help it.

Is it just me, or did anyone else notice Teacake incognito posting above?

I don't know if it's just you, r50, but I certainly didn't notice.

no, r50. how can you tell?

Christmas crackers are pretty common in Canada too. Maybe they're a commonwealth thing.

I used to work at the national art gallery and they sold them at the gift store. It is primarily a British/anglosphere thing.

These crowns must be a thing in Ireland too because this hot Oirish daddy was wearing one in his Chaturbate broadcast today.

We have them every year! The jokes are corny, the toys are junk, but everyone gets involved and we all get a laugh.

How much are flights to Ireland right now?

Asking for a friend, of course...

heavy is the head that wears the cracker crown

I grew up in Canada with English parents, and we - and I think most Canadians(?) - have always done crackers. Of course it’s silly wearing the crowns and reading the bad jokes, but we don’t really think about it as it’s normal. It’s just a bit of (Commonwealth) fun!

Just imagine if it were Americans who did this idiotic thing. We would never hear the end of the sneering from the Brits.

It's always amusing in our family when the crown doesn't fit on someone's head. They cop some light-hearted sledging for having a big noggin.

Your family is a bit too easily amused.

That IS funny, R61.

R62 is an uptight cunt.

Actually, it keeps their vertically outward-growing scalp hair (or what’s left of it) in place.

Better than a loose cunt, r63.

the irish are drunk 'tards.

I am an American living in the UK (11 years and still going). I don't mind the Christmas crackers in general, but we're trying to cut down on household waste in general so I didn't get them this year. You would have thought I had shot several in law family members. I think I could have served pizza for dinner and caused less offence. I still think they are a huge waste though - expensive now and you get about 5 seconds of meagre entertainment and then it all goes in the bin.

Why not just chuck the Christmas tree while you're at it? You've rooned Christmas, R67

r60 Yes, they would be saying how "baffled" they are.

They’ve a Christmas-dinner custom of “Crackers” … gayly-wrapped paper tubes with gifts. Christmas Crackers are generally shared with friends and family at Christmas dinner or at Christmas celebrations. Per the tradition, two people grab opposite ends of a cracker and pull, igniting the ``pop' of the cracker and spilling out the fun and festive contents inside. There is a poem, perhaps, or a joke or a motto, , a fun paper hat, a tiny gift. Prices for sets range from very modest up to costly …. I mean, like about 2o pounds up to thousands. Once I saw Garrard Christmas Crackers, each one contained a nice little piece of sterling silver …. cuff links, tie clip, coffee stirrer, etc. The custom is a happy one, great fun. The Brit poor do it, the Brit posh do it. Maybe even the Brit birds and bees do it. Cole Porter did it.

I'd do it.

R70 you’re way late with that boring recitation. We know already how little fun it is. Read the thread.

OP I’m going to tell you something that may come as a shock.

Different countries have different traditions.

The rest of the world is often different to the good ol’ USA, and thank god for that.

Most educated people are aware of this but based on some of the responses on this thread and the random use of “retarded” as an insult, there are more than a few uneducated posters on the DL.

It wasn’t a random use. It was directed quite specially at Brit crackers.

I have to laugh at how the one my father wore was always slipping down his head.

Americans don't understand "Monty Python" either.

It's a British thing.

That’s just nuts^^. And 100% wrong

I think the world has had fucking sufficient of British customs, dogs think?

R67, you must be fun at July 4th parties too.

British fortune cookies

They can take those tiny crowns and shove em up their ass!

Jesus fucking christ! Why such hostility over a paper party hat??

Did the Burger King "touch" you when you were little?

[quote]Did the Burger King "touch" you when you were little?

No, but he made me feel his Whopper.

I remember seeing them in Notes On A Scandal.

Stupid British bastards

Are all you xenophobes emboldened, emerging from your closets lately or has the DL been swamped by MAGATs since 5th November?

[Quote] Are all you xenophobes emboldened

Ah so when Americans do it back to the Brits they’re MAGA xenophobes.

When the Brits do it they’re just “concerned Europeans.”

I’m sorry but I’ll say it again — if this bit of foolishness were American we’d never hear the end of it.

EXACTly^

I'm not a "Brit" and if you bothered to read the rest of my post (total of 20 words - I can see that this would have been a challenge) you might possibly have understood that I was giving an example of some members of the DL feeling more comfortable with the "blame the foreigner" game lately, which I tied to your most recent election where the majority of voters endorsed a fascist.

Very little to do with paper crowns.

R89 squeaks at the universe. Thanks for playing today’s game.

It's not xenophobic to ridicule foreigners' silly customs.

I remember watching The Osbournes back in the day, lol. They did this at Christmas and I kind of liked it.

Here's a video of the best of both worlds.

Tom Holland AND Tom Holland wearing a Christmas Crown!