Blasts from the past

Happy Fourth of July to one and all! And remember, Independence Day is about more than just fireworks.

Okay, I felt like I had to put that last part in...now let's talk about fireworks! When I was little, maybe four or five, my dad showed me how to light fireworks, and he made sure I knew how important it was to do so safely and not take stupid chances. I've always enjoyed them...still do.

I remember there were a couple of years I spent time in the days leading up to the Fourth drawing these pictures; really getting geared up for the afternoon and evening celebration. The black and white drawing above is an inventory I made of what I had on hand. The Y (yes) are the ones I had some of, and the N (no) indicated what I needed to buy at the tent.

I haven't seen pinwheels in years. For those who don't know, there were two shapes, built around a flat pasteboard center. When lit, the pinwheel would spin and the sparks would fly out like a wheel of fire...really pretty at night. One shape was a spiral charge wrapped around a circular cardboard disk. The other kind had three seperate charges connected by fuse, arranged around a triangular cardboard. On those, the first charge would set the pinwheel spinning, then it would coast for a bit less than a second, then the second charge would start...then likewise the third. Quite a show. On either type of pinwheel, there was a dot printed on the center. The instructions suggested you nail it to a tree. We weren't real fond of that suggestion. First, we didn't like the idea of driving nails into our trees. And second, if you weren't careful about the placement, the pinwheel could catch on a rough piece of bark and come to a stop...ruining the effect. So what we did most times was nail them to an old wooden stepladder.

The firework I drew in the center left is something else I haven't seen in ages. I don't remember what it was called, but it had the spiral shape of a pinwheel and you would lay it on a sidewalk or driveway and light it. It would spin around and then a small charge at the end would blow it up. Not much of a report, like a ladyfinger firecracker.

Nowadays, you can get a similar effect with "ground bloom flowers". No nails have to be driven into trees, and in fact, they're a better firework.

Back to the art, such as it was. One year, I started days early and drew my own fireworks handbook. This was sometime in the mid 1960's (click on image to enlarge).

It's odd, now that I look this over again, it seems I left out smoke bombs. Maybe I discovered those later.

This year we plan to go to a park and watch a professional display, and if that's also your plan, have a great celebration! But if you prefer and if you're in a place where you can legally shoot off your own fireworks, please do so safely; a little common sense goes a long way. Always follow the directions...let's see, how does that go...

USE OUTDOORS ONLY UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION.
LIGHT FUSE AND GET AWAY.

(Or as the British say, IGNITE TOUCH PAPER AND RETIRE IMMEDIATELY.)