Christmas crackers

Segmented cardboard tubes wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper with a prize in the middle,^[1] making them resemble oversized sweet-wrappers. The cracker is pulled apart by two people, each holding an outer chamber, causing the cracker to split unevenly and leaving one person holding the central chamber and prize.^[1] The split is accompanied by a mild bang or snapping sound produced by the effect of friction on a shock-sensitive, chemically impregnated card strip.