Christmas Crackers in Luggage?

Sorry if this has been asked and answered before -- if so, feel free to point me in the right direction.

First Christmas season here and will be traveling back to the US next week.  We would like to take back some Christmas Crackers with us.  When we bought them, we had no idea what they did when you opened them ... so the question, is there a problem with taking them back with us in our checked luggage?  Are we better/worse off carrying them as hand luggage?

Thanks!

Yes, there is a problem. Crackers are explicitly forbidden as packed luggage (considered to be explosives) and likewise as hand luggage. We'd want to do the same as you, but were forced to deposit them on a big mound of other passengers' crackers.

How totally and completely bizzare. We brought a package of them with us at Thanksgiving and we were one of the Chosen who were taken off to a little room to have our checked luggage hand-searched. They said "oh, crackers, eh?" and put them back in, checked the luggage and off we went. I had no clue they weren't allowed. We were on BA....

I guess I don't know what to say. If you look at the icons of things that you're not supposed to take, you'll often see crackers. My experience was on Ryanair and they really, really didn't want crackers. So maybe the difference between the two events means that you could take the crackers so long as you're mentally prepared to have to ditch them.

They actually sell them all over the place here in the US now so you can buy them when you get here if you'd rather not deal with smuggling them. I've seen them at Target, Marshalls, Pier One.....can't seem to think of the rest of the places I've seen them. But I always buy mine at Target.

I just got back to the US last week (flew Heathrow to Chicago on United) & had no problems with the crackers in my checked bags.  They do sell them all over the place here, so it might be easier to just buy them here (the ones I brought from the UK were handmade by my mum-in-law, so I didn't have a choice!).

While crackers aren't allowed, I think they're lenient about them. Even though I have in the past transported a pack and felt they'd be confiscated, they weren't...and I'm not sure I okay with that.

They actually sell them all over the place here in the US now so you can buy them when you get here if you'd rather not deal with smuggling them. I've seen them at Target, Marshalls, Pier One.....can't seem to think of the rest of the places I've seen them. But I always buy mine at Target.

That's a drag.
I used to always post crackers over to my family cos it was kind of a unique and different thing for them.  Now there's no point.   

I bought some really nice Christmas Crackers years ago in Arkansas in a shop called Tuesday Morning. It is a chain store I think. The ones I bought were authentic from England.  We were just home for Thanksgiving and also found that they sell them all over the place now.  Save room in your luggage to shop-loved the $/£ exchange rate and we shopped til we dropped...
Have a great time back home!
Tammy

We flew from Newcastle to London (on BA) on Thursday, and the first question we were asked was whether or not we had any Christmas crackers in our luggage.

I brought a package in my luggage at Thanksgiving and no one even asked or checked my baggage.  But I did notice a sign at Heathrow (for BMI) that if you were carrying Christmas crackers to notify staff immediately.  No one asked me at the BA counter... 

Oh dear.  I brought some over last week (London to JFK, on Virgin) and had cracker in my checked bag, had no problems.  How odd.

Thanks all!  We'll see what happens -- we will carry on, and if they take them away, we will have "wasted" £3 (for 12...) . 

At least we didn't spend the £649 for six that we saw at Harrods on Saturday.

At least we didn't spend the £649 for six that we saw at Harrods on Saturday.

What!!! What was in those crackers?

In- laws just arrived last week and brought a LOAD of crackers     Oh, and some holly too