22-10-2014 2:06 PM
I've been trying to remember the names of fireworks from when I was a kid, before all these big, noisy things of recent years; I can only remember a few:
Roman Candle
Catherine Wheel
Snow Fountain?
Then there were rockets, bangers, sparklers of course.
Can anyone remember what else there was?
22-10-2014 2:55 PM
Jumping Jacks
22-10-2014 3:45 PM
Golden Rain
Volcano
22-10-2014 3:48 PM
22-10-2014 3:52 PM
Yes, I remember the Jumping Jack - Elf n' Safety would have a field day on that one! What about the Bomber - had a pair of wings which you put on to a ramp, lit the fuse and off it would go, every bit as fast as a rocket, but in no particular direction. You could actually adjust the "wings" so it would even loop the loop if you were lucky. Bangers were 1d, 3d, and 6d and for a super bang, you'd actually put a rubber band round about four of them and light all the touch fuses together.
Some comedian let one off in the factory just as the boss was passing. It made a loud pop. hHe called the chargehand who had tickets to watch a live football match.
"Ken!" He barked. "One of the fuses has blown - find out which one." Above his head were seventy-odd fuses, and despite his protests, this poor bloke was up on the ladder for nearly forty minutes. One of the directors pulled him aside.
"Dave, you're wrong - it was a firework."
"Do you think I'm stupid? I know that, so does everybody else! Ken's going to miss his match through somebody playing silly buggers. He mad, and rightly so. But that'll guarantee nobody fools around with fireworks in my factory ever again!" He then walked off sporting a wry smile. Clever