TrendPulse

Maybe because  I'm a transplanted American, but in all my (don't ask how many) Christmases in England I have never seen the point of Christmas crackers - those gaudily wrapped paper tubes with paper hats, silly jokes and plastic toys inside that are always a must at the holiday table.

So, when I spotted these  black & white music print concerto crackers at a local shop, I snapped them up - and what a find!!!! There were 8 crackers, each with a music print paper hat (check) and a plastic toy (check) but the plastic toy was a numbered whistle and in the box came a conductor's baton and music sheets of favorite Christmas carols. At last these silly things made sense!!!!!  We played every carol, all 7 of us, including 92-year-old great aunt (her nephew played two whistles), laughed our heads off and even the jokes were better than most!!!! (Sample: what do vampires sing on New Year's eve? Auld Fang Syne)

This is what you get: Each of the eight crackers contains a whistle pitched to a different note and a numbered badge. Once everyone has pulled their cracker a nominated 'conductor' follows the song sheets pointing at each 'musician' when it is their turn to play. The result: beautiful music... or total chaos depending on the competency (and sobriety) of the players. Eight crackers are packed in a tray with transparent lid.

Features
Crackers x 8, 30cm
Pitched whistles
Numbered badges
Song sheets
Christmas hats
Conductors baton

See www.tobar.co.uk