And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
ha yes, that used to be a game we played with each other. Light the fuse on an inch & a halfer and see how long one could hold it before tossing. Whose-ever blew off the closest won. Dam those did hurt when you held on too long.
When I was 10 I lit one with a sparkler. The sparks prevented me from seeing the cat was lit. It went off in my hand. Thumb, index, and middle felt like they were set on fire and hit with a hammer. Never did that again.
Put model glue all over the cat and roll it in BB's or crushed glass. Tape a cat to the center of a sliding glass door.
Jam a 12" pipe in the ground, light the cat and drop it in the pipe and immediately drop a marble in the pipe. INCOMING!
Firecrackers in the late 50’s made me aware of the concept of spendthrift and waste. We carefully unlaced and hoarded our firecrackers. shot one at a time. Had them all year. The big money fired long strings of crackers all at once. i suspect they later got into politics and government
Meanwhile, in Hawaii we all had our own grocery sack full up with firecracks and cherry bombs. I seem to recall a pack of 100 was priced at .25 cents. Being capitalist swine, we'd sell to the little tykes a penny a pop. Or at least try to since parents figured out our scheme rather quickly. Anyway, of course we had wars. Sling shot launched cherry bombs are allowable.
Years ago when I was at Crystal Beach Amusement Park in Canada, a kid was walking around with a pack of firecrackers in his back pocket and the fuse hanging out. One of his friends lit it; I've never seen a dance like that before or since!
I would clean out the bed of the farm truck and set off a 200 count strand in the bed. The truck bed would amplify the bang. It also made it easier to gather up the ones that didn't go off.
Used to have bottle rocket fights with cheap Moon Travelers and also used Black Cats when we had them. Aiming was problematical but I remember two or three solid hits. The excitement was to have the damn things whizzing at you and missing by a foot or less. So much fun.
I always thought that Black Cat firecrackers were of higher quality than other brands. Less ones that did not go off, more ones that did go off. And I thought that they were louder and had more flash. I guessed that it meant they had more gunpowder in them, although I was pretty young at the time. I remember asking the adults around me in those days. It was then that I was told (lectured, really) about the concept of, "Ya get what you pay for". An early life lesson.
I would unroll a bunch of them and collect the small amount of powder from each one, then put all the powder in a small wooden match box with a fuse hanging out of one corner, then wrap the box with multiple layers of tape. It would blow up a mailbox. We actually made the evening news one time for that….
Yes I do. Though very difficult to obtain in Taxachussetts in the late 60s early 60s, we had some fun...
ReplyDelete50s and 60s dammit!
ReplyDeleteI had one of those blow in my hand once, pushed my fingers apart but did no damage. I'll never forget Black Cat firecrackers because of that, though.
ReplyDeleteha yes, that used to be a game we played with each other. Light the fuse on an inch & a halfer and see how long one could hold it before tossing. Whose-ever blew off the closest won. Dam those did hurt when you held on too long.
DeleteWhen I was 10 I lit one with a sparkler.
DeleteThe sparks prevented me from seeing the cat was lit.
It went off in my hand.
Thumb, index, and middle felt like they were set on fire and hit with a hammer. Never did that again.
Put model glue all over the cat and roll it in BB's or crushed glass.
Tape a cat to the center of a sliding glass door.
Jam a 12" pipe in the ground, light the cat and drop it in the pipe and immediately drop a marble in the pipe. INCOMING!
Black Cat firecrackers were like a wonder in the 60s, if you could get them.
ReplyDeleteFirecrackers in the late 50’s made me aware of the concept of spendthrift and waste. We carefully unlaced and hoarded our firecrackers.
ReplyDeleteshot one at a time. Had them all year.
The big money fired long strings of crackers all at once.
i suspect they later got into politics and government
Meanwhile, in Hawaii we all had our own grocery sack full up with firecracks and cherry bombs.
DeleteI seem to recall a pack of 100 was priced at .25 cents.
Being capitalist swine, we'd sell to the little tykes a penny a pop. Or at least try to since parents figured out our scheme rather quickly.
Anyway, of course we had wars. Sling shot launched cherry bombs are allowable.
Racist… call them Colorless Snappers…
ReplyDeleteBrought back memories of setting off with father
ReplyDeleteI lit them too.
ReplyDeleteYears ago when I was at Crystal Beach Amusement Park in Canada, a kid was walking around with a pack of firecrackers in his back pocket and the fuse hanging out. One of his friends lit it; I've never seen a dance like that before or since!
ReplyDeleteA guy like that, well, he was just asking for it. That would have been a hoot to seem
DeleteI would clean out the bed of the farm truck and set off a 200 count strand in the bed. The truck bed would amplify the bang. It also made it easier to gather up the ones that didn't go off.
ReplyDeleteMade in America
ReplyDeleteUsed to have bottle rocket fights with cheap Moon Travelers and also used Black Cats when we had them. Aiming was problematical but I remember two or three solid hits. The excitement was to have the damn things whizzing at you and missing by a foot or less. So much fun.
ReplyDeleteI always thought that Black Cat firecrackers were of higher quality than other brands. Less ones that did not go off, more ones that did go off. And I thought that they were louder and had more flash. I guessed that it meant they had more gunpowder in them, although I was pretty young at the time. I remember asking the adults around me in those days. It was then that I was told (lectured, really) about the concept of, "Ya get what you pay for". An early life lesson.
ReplyDeleteBy age 12 I graduated to M80's and cherry bombs.
DeleteI would unroll a bunch of them and collect the small amount of powder from each one, then put all the powder in a small wooden match box with a fuse hanging out of one corner, then wrap the box with multiple layers of tape. It would blow up a mailbox. We actually made the evening news one time for that….
ReplyDeleteI have an original Black Cat fireworks poster hanging up in my garage! Got it over 40 years ago!
ReplyDelete