And by "good old days", I mean the good old days of 4th of July celebrations. Sure, I guess it's a good thing that most places have cracked down on illegal fireworks. Sure, it's certainly a good thing that people aren't blowing off their fingers anymore.
... but still ....
I can't help but miss what Independence Days were like back when I was growing up on 96th Place in the Ozone Park neighborhood of New York City. That scene had to be seen ( and smelt and heard ) to be believed. Of course, I've never been on an 18th Century battlefield, but I've got to image that those battlefields sounded and smelt a lot like the way 96th Place smelt and sounded every July 4th in the 1970's.
All day long from about 11 AM to 1 AM you'd hear a plethora of illegal fireworks blowing up. Smoke would hang in the air like a thick fog, and there was a distinct smell of sulfur in the air. Most people on the block didn't travel on that day, because they were afraid they might come home to find their house burnt down due to an errant firework. So, because we were all going to be home all day anyway, it didn't make much sense to sit around and gripe about the sound and the smoke. Instead, we all joined in on the fun.
It seemed like every Dad on the block ( including mine ) got his hands on every kind of illegal firework imaginable. They would set them off all day in the street as the kids watched, and there's really nothing that makes a young boy happier than watching stuff blow up. I still remember the year my dad got his hands on some blockbusters (a blockbuster is a quarter stick of dynamite ). He lit one and placed it under a 3-foot tall steel garbage can, and I swear that the garbage can must have launched about 20 feet into the air. As stupid as this may sound, I still consider that moment to be one of the highlights of my childhood.
Now, my parents were wise enough to keep fireworks out of my hands, but plenty of parents on the block were more than willing to let their kids join in on the "fun". I don't remember any kids handling the big stuff, but kids can still do a lot of damage with fire-crackers and bottle rockets. Especially those kids who thought it was fun to throw lit firecrackers. Especially those kids who thought it was a blast ( pun intended ) to shoot bottle rockets horizontally along the ground. I was never unlucky enough to be hit by one of these low-flying missiles, but I distinctly remember a few whizzing right past my feet ( The same kids who though it was fun to launch those things horizontally thought it was hilarious to aim them at people. ).
As crazy as all that was, I think it all pales in comparison to the insanity of what people did with roman candles. A roman candle is basically a small mortar you can hold in your hand. Now, it's not really a good ideal to hold a lit firework with enough explosive power to launch 10 fireballs into the air, but people certainly did. My Dad used to hold a roman candle up in the air like he was the Statue of Liberty. I still remember those green and red fiireballs launching out of that roman candle in his hand.
Certainly not wise ....
Certainly not safe ...
... but it was freakin' cool!
Yeah, not wise, not safe, but COOL!
Happy July 4th folks! I have no choice but to live the safe and secure life of a suburban Dad these days, but if you have an opportunity to, please blow something up for me today!
Rich
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