Rarely does a New Year's holiday take place without crackers. But few people thought about who came up with the firecrackers, where their story began. There are several different versions of the appearance of crackers, it is difficult to say which of them is the most reliable. These stories or legends are associated precisely with the New Year and Christmas, although today crackers are used not only for these holidays.
Remember how much joy and fun the crackers brought in childhood. How they, exploding, scattered colored confetti around them, and in some of them a small toy or a coin could be found inside. Noisy firecrackers were integral attributes of the New Year. However, where did they come from?
The story of the crackling bamboo
The first amazing legend about the appearance of a firecracker sends us to ancient China. It says that more than 2000 years ago, at the end of winter, people living in one of the Chinese provinces were terrified by the unicorn Nian. In order to cope with the monster, the locals came up with the idea of setting fire to bamboo, or rather sticks made from it. When they burned, a strong crack was heard, which could scare off the monster, so in China they were called crackling bamboo. According to one of the versions, it was these "noisy" sticks that later became called crackers.
French gifts
The second story tells that once in France it was customary to make New Year's gifts from colorful packaging in which various sweets were wrapped, but almonds were most often used. These funny toys or decorations were given to each other for Christmas or hung on the Christmas tree at home.
One famous pastry chef from England - Thomas Smith - saw how such gifts were created and decided to make similar sweet toys in his pastry shop. The demand for amazing and unusual treats was huge. And after a while, the same confectioner decided to improve the New Year's sweetness that everyone loved. Therefore, he began to make toys, when opened, a clap was heard, sparks flew in all directions, and a gift remained inside. It could be a small decoration, a souvenir, a beautiful napkin, a delicious candy or a small gingerbread.
