Neighborhood Pyrotechnics

Sadly, I am no longer up to speed on the current state of the art in firecrackers.

When I was a kid, though, the Black Cat brand was unrivaled as the most "pop"ular type of gunpowder-filled fun-time holiday accessory. There were other, less reliable brands that you'd buy once...and then go back to the standard when you realized that they were less than satisfactory. (It's kinda like buying DumDums at Halloween instead of Tootsie Pops.)

Obviously, the main attraction was the fact that the fuses fizzed and the crackers exploded. They could be used to cause chaos and panic within anthills, blow the arms off your sister's dolls, and perhaps even launch tin cans skyward if you set everything up correctly. I loved the smell of the gunpowder, the shiny silver texture of the fuses, and the adrenaline rush you'd get every now and then when the fuse would suddenly accelerate and force you to hurry your throw.

I was also intrigued by the guts of the firecrackers. Not only could you open them up and create awesome flashpiles by combining the gunpowder contents of multiple Black Cats...but the cracker structure seemed to be built from discarded Chinese newspapers. The tattered remnants of exploded ordnance was printed with inscrutable symbols and hieroglyphs that made a kid want to dig a hole in the back yard and burrow through the earth to visit the mysterious culture that was ruled by the snarling dark feline on the package label.

Today, of course, I am amazed that our parents allowed their pre-teen children to handle massive quantities of explosives without supervision. I am also confused as to why they call the fuse-lighting firestick a "punk". And I never have figured out the appeal of the "black snakes" that just spit out a long string of ash without ever having the decency to properly explode. My brother has confessed to enjoying those as a youth, but I always put them in the category with sparklers -- boring stuff that was supposed to keep the kids occupied until the main display was ready to go in the middle of the street.

In addition to fireworks, our neighborhood also had block parades. We'd adorn our bikes and little red wagons with crepe paper streamers and American flags, along with the occasional Statue of Liberty mockup. We'd form a line and ride/pull our various conveyances down the street to the enthusiastic cheers of whatever neighbors weren't out there walking alongside us. As a visual spectacle, it was probably pretty lame -- but as a community bonding experience, it was priceless.

Kids today probably don't even know what a little red wagon is. Sigh. It's no wonder that our once-great country now suffers abominations like rap music, reality TV, and Justin Bieber.

Anyway, the parade photo shown here is from the American Royal parade in Kansas City. My family spent several July 4th holidays in the KC area, mostly visiting with my dad's friend Orville Burtis. Orville had a farm in Olathe (just outside the metro area), which provided plenty of space for Black Cats, cherry bombs, roman candles, and general youth-driven shenanigans. But when it was time for the big parade, we'd douse the punks, put on cowboy boots, and head into town to watch the horses and Shriners.

Ah yes, good times, those. My other vivid Independence Day memories include attending public fireworks displays and spreading out on a big blanket to lie back for the oooohs and aaaaahs. And then of course, there were the epic roman candle duels among my Wichita Swim Club teammates. I had no desire to put myself in the line of fire, but it was great fun watching the stupid kids shoot flaming glow balls at each other. Thank goodness there were no injuries or structural conflagrations as a result. As the same time, I do wonder if such experiences contributed to character building in a way that playing Nintendo just can't duplicate. Hmm.

And yeah, I know that I have once again failed to deliver on the promise of my Rockies game fireworks photos, and I apologize. They're pretty crummy anyway, so you're not missing much. But it was kinda fun for me to dredge through some childhood recollections, and I appreciate your indulgence in reading along. As always, thanks for dropping by, and have a great day!