Where did the Christmas cracker tradition come from?

The explosive tradition didn't come from a festive pyromaniac or someone with the great idea of scaring uncles and aunties on Christmas morning.

They actually came from a sweet maker in England that wanted a novel way of selling his sweets, so he created explosive packaging. He was inspired after watching a fire burn and being captivated by the crackling flames.

After a while the sweets were replaced with jokes, trinkets and paper hats, which in turn, started the tradition we all know too well.

When first sold, they were labelled as 'cosaques', named after the Russian mounted soldiers who fired their weapons into the air.