Do you guys ever find old fireworks/firecracker packs??

[craig101]

Just wondering if you guys ever find old fireworks or old firecracker packs at garage/estate sales? I collect this old stuff and wondered how often it might show up.

thanks

Craig

 

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[Monty]

Never have but I would give my right hand for some real fireworks like M80s. (I realize a few people did)! Monty

 

[AKiwi]

@ Monty

 

[stefen]

Never have but I would give my right hand for some real fireworks like M80s. (I realize a few people did)! Monty

Some character was badly burned and and lost part of his hand recently when a spark lit a handful of bottle rockets in his back pocket...luckily the M80's in his front pocket didn't ignite...or he'd be yelling help in a soprano voice.

 

[strickman]

my son bought some today, for 1.50

 

[Monty]

The old M80s were the equivalent to a 1/4 stick of dynamite or so I was told back then. The new ones are fake. We use to dig a hole in a red ant bed and bury an M80 in it, light the fuse and run. It would blow a hole in the ground about 8" deep and 5 or 6 inches wide. The reason you ran was not because of the explosion, but because it would rain red ants and you didn't want one down your collar! You could also fish with an M80. Tape it to a rock and toss in into a fishing hole and it would always bring up several nice perch or catfish. But now it is illegal to use explosives for bait! We also blew up a few small to medium size stumps. Form a cone with duct tape and cardboard over one and set it off and it would act as a shape charge and blow all or part of the stump out. Oh well, those were days of yore. Monty

 

[Prairie Prowler]

I found a full pack of "Yankee Boy" crackers once in some items I picked up at an auction ..Still have them..Ive always wondered how old they are..

 

[Prairie Prowler]

Here are a couple shots .Do you know approx. their age? Thanks... Bill

 

[RevJoel]

Re; M-80's...Isn't it amazing what a few grams of Potassium Perchlorate and Aluminum dust will do!

Pax Christi
Rev. Joel+

 

[dave5339]

Given the look of the Yan Key boy firecrackers I would hazard a guess as to 1969 or 1970. Well before they limited the powder in the 1 1/2" firecrackers.

Semper Fi

 

[craig101]

me thinks dave5339 knows about old fireworks/firecrackers OR he has an unbelievable eye.

this pack is a class 4 pack from the 1969-1972 era as it has the ICC marking with the warning. nice logos on the firecrackers. a more rare version would have had the american flag on the pack replacing one of the other flags.

it's a shame the pack is so beat up. dave's right these are full 2 grain crackers. a fair amount louder than today's crackers.

 

[dave5339]

me thinks dave5339 knows about old fireworks/firecrackers OR he has an unbelievable eye.

this pack is a class 4 pack from the 1969-1972 era as it has the ICC marking with the warning. nice logos on the firecrackers. a more rare version would have had the american flag on the pack replacing one of the other flags.

it's a shame the pack is so beat up. dave's right these are full 2 grain crackers. a fair amount louder than today's crackers.

Craig,

Every summer we sold fireworks. Could say I grew up in the business. We used to bootleg M-80's when we could get them, our supplier got busted and it cost him 50K fine. I got to shoot lots of different stuff, I was basically the "test pilot" for all the new stuff that our distributor would bring by. Working in the stand meant I could buy all my fireworks for cost. Man did I ever shoot up a lot of money.

Unfortunately, now that I have kids I live in suburbia where even sparklers are frowned upon.

Semper Fi

 

[cyberdan]

Every summer we sold fireworks. Could say I grew up in the business.

Then when you really grew up you joined the corp and really got to shoot the big stuff

Man did I ever shoot up a lot of money.

Good thing it went up in the sky instead of your arm.

 

[dave5339]

Every summer we sold fireworks. Could say I grew up in the business.

Then when you really grew up you joined the corp and really got to shoot the big stuff

Man did I ever shoot up a lot of money.

Good thing it went up in the sky instead of your arm.

Cyberdan,

Yep, I joined the Corps to play with the fun stuff. Got tired of MRE's, (meals rejected by Ethiopians) at one point so my squad and I went "fishing". As we were on a demo range we had our choice of "bait". Our company commander wandered by that night as we were all sitting around a bed of coals grilling fish. He initially was curious where the fish had come from. After sampling one, he decided some questions are better left unanswered.

Semper Fi

 

[cyberdan]

Got tired of MRE's, (meals rejected by Ethiopians)

I got to eat rations once. they are called something diff in the Navy. Half the time I was in I was a cook. We fed our guys very well.

He initially was curious where the fish had come from. After sampling one, he decided some questions are better left unanswered.

hooyah

 

[baspinall]

The old M80s were the equivalent to a 1/4 stick of dynamite or so I was told back then. The new ones are fake. We use to dig a hole in a red ant bed and bury an M80 in it, light the fuse and run. It would blow a hole in the ground about 8" deep and 5 or 6 inches wide. The reason you ran was not because of the explosion, but because it would rain red ants and you didn't want one down your collar! You could also fish with an M80. Tape it to a rock and toss in into a fishing hole and it would always bring up several nice perch or catfish. But now it is illegal to use explosives for bait! We also blew up a few small to medium size stumps. Form a cone with duct tape and cardboard over one and set it off and it would act as a shape charge and blow all or part of the stump out. Oh well, those were days of yore. Monty

I miss those as well as the "cherry bombs" those were "real"fireworks!

 

[craig101]

dave, if only you saved a box of the old fireworks..........sigh. LOL

 

[craig101]

been almost two years since the last post, curious if anyone has seen any old fireworks lately?

 

[diggummup]

All I have found are the roll caps that go in vintage cap guns, and an old can of calcium carbide that would make a nice big boom if you wanted it to.

 

[SEANO]

The old M80s were the equivalent to a 1/4 stick of dynamite or so I was told back then. The new ones are fake. We use to dig a hole in a red ant bed and bury an M80 in it, light the fuse and run. It would blow a hole in the ground about 8" deep and 5 or 6 inches wide. The reason you ran was not because of the explosion, but because it would rain red ants and you didn't want one down your collar! You could also fish with an M80. Tape it to a rock and toss in into a fishing hole and it would always bring up several nice perch or catfish. But now it is illegal to use explosives for bait! We also blew up a few small to medium size stumps. Form a cone with duct tape and cardboard over one and set it off and it would act as a shape charge and blow all or part of the stump out. Oh well, those were days of yore. Monty

Ha, thanks for bringing up this old post, brought back memories of those great M-80's, boy I miss them. Big lake explosions with the waterproof wicks, sending metal 50 gallon drums well over 50 feet in the air, out the window and a big rig thought they had a flat, on and on. "Those were days of yore"