FIREWORKS FACTS
BLOSSOMS
The aerial fireworks displays
are referred to as blossoms
and are produced by
American shells or Oriental shells.
Shells are not distinguished
by where they are made,
but by their shape.
The American shell is cylindrical
and has a random pattern of colors
that generally last longer
than the Oriental shell display.
The Oriental shell is spherical and produces
the spectacular spreading chrysanthemum
type blossom that takes up the entire sky.
BREAK
People in fireworks refer to the explosion
of any aerial display as a break.
It broke too low.
It broke too high.
It broke late.
BOUQUET
In France, they call
the fireworks show finale
the bouquet.
Ahh, here comes the bouquet!
CLASSIFICATIONS
Fireworks and larger ordnance
are classified as
Class A, Class B or Class C,
depending on
how much powder is used.
Class C are consumer fireworks
with 50 mg of powder allowed
in a firecracker
or enough to cover your fingertip.
Rockets are allowed
to contain 130 mg of powder.
Class B are the type
seen in public displays
and will usually
contain 28,400 mg of powder
and require a license to handle.
Class A are military ordnance
which include bombs,
artillery shells and the like.
COLORS
Different blendings of color
are especially exhilarating
for the observer.
Red requires the least heat,
then orange, yellow and green
are progressively hotter.
White is the hottest.
Until very recently,
the most difficult color to attain
was a bright, electric blue,
and is still rare in fireworks displays.
MORTAR
The round metal tube,
that is generally
buried securely in the ground,
from which aerial shells
seen at public displays
are launched.
PYROTECHNICIAN
The professional fireworks
designer, handler or torch man.
SHAPES
The most common forms
of fireworks by shape are
chrysanthemum
weeping willow
palm tree shell
rockets
rockets with trailing stars
hummers
and
red-tipped comet.
FIREWORKS ARE OLD TIMERS
BLACK POWDER!
The smell was unmistakable,
irrevocable, sweet, sulfuric
and prompting both
exhilaration and apprehension.
The smell of it tinted the warm air
as the sun set over Philadelphia
on July 4, 1776.
Representatives
from each of the 13 colonies
~ our first fragile Congress ~
had been meeting for months
to decide the course
of our new country�s destiny.
Today they were ready,
finally and formally,
to announce
The Declaration Of Independence
which Thomas Jefferson
had introduced six days before
and which was adopted on July 2.
Citizens of Philadelphia were gathering,
shouting, firing their flintlocks in the air
and celebrating the brave decision.
As the sun set,
each of the ships on the riverfront,
comprising the fledgling navy
of the new United States,
fired off 13 cannons
to commemorate this new beginning.
Then from the Commons,
the large field west of Sixth Street,
13 brilliant rockets
were launched into the sky.
Then more cannons
and a huge bonfire was lit
as a backdrop for the speeches,
the questions and the explanations.
As the gathering ended,
another 13 dazzling rockets
were launched skyward.
Those who supported the seditious move
showed their bravery
by putting candles in the windows
of their homes.
The loyalists were not anxious
for such a fight,
and kept their windows darkened.
Beginning the following year
and for every year thereafter,
the celebration and illuminations
have continued.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
were to enjoy the annual celebration
for 50 more years to the day,
each dying within hours of the other
on July 4, 1826.
Fireworks and The Fourth Of July
now go together
like mustard and hot dogs.
However, it must be acknowledged
that fireworks had also been part
of the colonial experience
since the very beginning.
On the evening of July 24, 1608
Captain John Smith wrote:
We fired a few rockets,
which flying in the ayre,
so terrified the poor savages
that they supposed that nothing
we attempted was impossible
and desired to assist us.
Little firecrackers in the colonies
were called
squibs
and were so popular that in 1731
a ban was passed in Rhode Island
to dissuade pranksters
from their mischief.
George Washington�s
inauguration in 1789
was accompanied by
a huge fireworks demonstration.
It used the same formula for black powder
salt peter, charcoal and sulfur
that was used by Columbus
and is still used to this day.
During the 1800�s,
fireworks went mostly unregulated
and became more dangerous.
Toward the end of the 1800�s,
one of the favorite firecrackers
was a foot and one half long
and was often dropped inside
the metal postal boxes,
which blew the boxes to pieces.
4000 people died from fireworks
with twice as many injuries
between 1900 and 1930.
40 out of 50 states now allow
the sale of some type of fireworks.
In the past 10 years
30 per cent of all injuries
have come from illegal
or homemade pieces.
Rockets, pinwheels, fountains
and various type firecrackers
have been popular
from the earliest colonial days
but their looks have changed.
Most early fireworks
appeared dull white or orange.
A fireworks cookbook
was published in 1845 detailing
how to achieve different colors.
For instance,
you were instructed to add
barium for green
calcium for orange
copper for blue
sodium for yellow
and strontium for red.
The volatility of these chemicals,
especially when inexpertly mixed,
prevented their widespread use.
In the late 1800�s, metal fuels such as
aluminum, magnesium and titanium
came on the market.
They burn at a higher temperature
and emit brighter light of various colors
and quickly became essential.
Although the early Americans
rolled their own fireworks,
the industry in a few family firms
soon became the focus,
as it remains today,
with secrets passed down
from generation to generation.
Around the world, most fireworks
especially the Class B fireworks
are made by hand,
as they have been
for thousands of years.
Friction from metal machines
or metal tools
could spark an explosion.
The oil from a machine
might create an explosive mix
with the chemicals.
Considering these hazards wisely,
factories used wooden hammers
and cardboard covered benches
to reduce the impending dangers.
In Chinese workshops
loud talk is forbidden
to insure that
the touchy soul of black powder
might be honored and soothed.
The American Pyrotechnics Association
explains that the ingredients
are only 10 per cent of the task
of producing beautiful effects in fireworks.
How fine the chemical powders are,
what binder is used
and the order in which
the ingredients are blended and mixed
will change the result.
There is a lot of art involved
and it is the art,
more than the chemicals,
that brings
the oohs and ahhs!
On Independence Day
the large blossoms we see
comprise
a lifting charge
to get the package aloft,
a bursting charge
which opens the fireworks at apogee
(generally five seconds after liftoff)
and finally as the capper
a sound charge
since the explosion required
to open a blossom
is not necessarily very loud.
The sparks and flashes which we see
come from the powder form of fireworks,
while the larger, longer glows
come from bigger concentrations
of various chemicals.
What would the Fourth of July
be without fireworks?
More fireworks are ignited each year
than for any other national celebration
in the world.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
and the rest of the colonial patriots
would grin wide with pleasure
at the spectacular displays
of modern fireworks.
Reference appreciation to Jack Gebhardt ~ ALM1998