My mother made Christmas Crackers as 'home' work some time in the early 1950s. We lived in North London at the time.

There would be a cardboard tube that was formed somehow by rolling the cardboard over a metal 'former'. Crepe paper was rolled over the tube, the paper hat, motto, 'charm' and 'banger' were inserted and then, in a way that I never quite grasped being very young at the time, the cracker was crimped using string and another metal 'former' together with more cardboard. Finally, a decoration was added to the middle part of the cracker - usually a picture of a festive scene printed on thin card, perhaps with some glittery or metallic finish.

The crackers were packed in boxes of a dozen. I think they were collected periodically by an agent from the manufacturer as I don't remember stacks of boxes around the house and I doubt Mum had the means to deliver them anywhere.

My brother and I occasionally played with discarded tarnished 'charms' (which had been bright and silvery when new) - they were in the shape of a swan and were made of LEAD. He, being 3 years younger than me, used to suck them if I remember rightly. None of your health-and-safety lark then. There might have been a warning on the box about small parts being hazardous to young children but nothing about the lightlyhood of them being poisoned!

Later, the lead charms gave way to small back or white plastic stallions. Even as young as I was, I understood that this was the 'economy' end of the market.

All this would have been at the time that Britain still had some rationing and tinsel was made of something that tarnished in time.

Christine