The Catherine Wheel nailed to a shed door or wooden fence post was a classic, Woodsy. Happy days thinking back to those bygone back garden firework displays we enjoyed as kids. The home made Guy, the stacked bonfire (or bongie as I would've called it as a nipper)and hot dogs to keep the chill out, were all on the menu :)
Oh yes, I loved those whizzing things Tone. I can see see my Dad hammering that nail on the shed! Great memory! The evening all came together back then, like you say, the guy and hot outdoor food and bags of atmosphere. I think you have to a be a kid or a parent of a little kid to appreciate Bommy Night now, as it was back in our day.
Don't recall those Mish but I think several of them exploded over me tonight standing outside the chippy. I jumped out out of my skin! I do remember Roman Candles. They were like sticks that stood upright. Very colourful fountain of sparks.
Most of the time we just had sparklers, but sometimes we also had fireworks. As well as the Catherine wheel, Roman Candles and rockets there were some delights such as a Jumping Jack and either an aeroplane or helicopter one year. I also recall clubbing together with my friends to buy up a few boxes of fireworks and setting them off in all sorts of places (we were 12 or 13 at the time). Standard and Astra are brands I remember best.
Great memories Mish. Those firework helicopters sound familiar. Don't think 13 year old can buy fireworks now. Setting them off in all sorts of places! You naughty boys!
I tried to find it on You Tube for the blog toneet but couldn't Khus. I adored that ad as a kid and it was the national anthem on bommy night! Do you remember the fifth of November!
Yep, loved those. Pie n peas too with pickled rings of raw onion. Butter pies and maybe even cheese and onion pies. Apple bobbing even - remember that? Bonfire toffee was just the best, the big shards of rock hard sugar, not the round lollies you get now.
Brocks Fireworks were the big rival to Standard, I always loved the ‘guy’ figure made of fireworks on the Standard ads. I loved the Helicopter, a three inch tube with a plastic spoon shaped propeller attached to the middle, the Rip-Rap or Firecracker that looked like a small paper model of an old fashioned corrugated radiator, Bengal Matches - red and green flares like oversized matches and aeroplanes - similar to copters with a triangular cardboard wing with RAF roundels stapled to the side.
Great vivid memories Wote. I wish I had your memory. There's so much I want to remember. I might have try hypnotism! Don't recall Brocks at all but adored that firework man from Standard. My Dad always brought them home on the 5th November after he finished work. I think he stocked them in his cash n carry warehouse. I remember how dark it was. Sometimes we had a bommy in the garden and sometimes drove round looking at others around Ashton.
Standard, Astra, Brocks and Wessex were the brands sold in north London. While Bangers were a generic name, different blends of coloured Roman Candles had different names depending on maker. Rockets were guaranteed the worst deal for home use as invariably they disappeared behind a neighbours house.
ha ha, I remember rockets flying zig zagged everywhere too Terran. I also remember terribly scary TV ads about the dangers of fireworks. Public Information Films. They were really hard hitting!
My favourite firework name was "Calling all Cars" I only ever had one. It had a line drawing of a police car on the side. It was a Roman Candle and when it went off it ejected screaming silver fireballs!
I am from Walkden. Toffee apples of course. Another thing I like about the NW is meat and potato pies. I've bought some on recent trips north. There are none down south. Surprised Morrisons haven't stocked them
Salford area eh! Oh yes, meat and potato pies Khus! Delicious. I also love cheese and onion pies and butter pies when I go back to Lancashire. The thing I miss the most are Steak Puddings in the chippies. They don't have them in Yorkshire. Funny how we miss the food we grew up with!
We used to light Bangers 'in the hand' and then throw them into the distance. Highly dangerous and kids across the country burnt their hands, or even lost fingers doing this. Thankfully, this didn't happen to me, or my friends , but this was just how it was then. Thankfully, this is uncommon now. Mish.
Catching up ... No Bonfire Night in my native Holland of course, but shortly after midnight on New Year's Day morning we stage a nationwide impression of World War Three. (I'm still looking for satellite pictures of that :) Catherine wheels we had plus similar things that spin and skitter on the ground. Roman candles could be had as single shot or with an increasing number of barrels depending on budget. Rockets in various sizes, plus "screaming kitchen maids" that produce more sound than visual effects. Bengal matches were fun because you could toss those into a ditch and they'd tug through the water a fair distance before exploding. Bangers were boys' favourites of course; the trick being to buy them somewhere under the counter before the official start date and then make a nuisance by using them outside school f ex. Sizes ranged from the tiny "gnat's fart" to the larger "astronaut" and "bazooka" with a couple untranslatable sizes inbetween. The bazooka was a serious item; we once blew up an abandoned ceramic toilet bowl with just three of them (nowadays you can't get that size any more). The smaller sizes were also available strung together in what we called a "reng-teng" and that in varying lengths to provide a nice impression of automatic gunfire. Now living in Belgium we used to fire off fireworks on our own (with answering fire from sporadic fellow-Dutchmen living nearby) because the Belgians don't do this at New Year. Or we go back to celebrate in Holland. Where bangers are less popular nowadays, and where there are now moves to restrict the types of firework one can buy in general. What does stay is the smell of spent fireworks hanging in the streets - one of the nostalgic smells of childhood that still returns. :)
I did laugh at that Paul, answering fire from sporadic fellow Dutchmen! ha ha. I great image! Having lived in Germany I would say that their New Year Silvester is easily as big a firework night as our Bonfire Night if not bigger. You certainly know your fireworks Paul and I would have enjoyed a reng teng! I agree about that smell Paul. Loved it!
The Catherine Wheel nailed to a shed door or wooden fence post was a classic, Woodsy.
ReplyDeleteHappy days thinking back to those bygone back garden firework displays we enjoyed as kids. The home made Guy, the stacked bonfire (or bongie as I would've called it as a nipper)and hot dogs to keep the chill out, were all on the menu :)
Oh yes, I loved those whizzing things Tone. I can see see my Dad hammering that nail on the shed! Great memory! The evening all came together back then, like you say, the guy and hot outdoor food and bags of atmosphere. I think you have to a be a kid or a parent of a little kid to appreciate Bommy Night now, as it was back in our day.
DeleteAir Bombs were a favourite of mine Woodsy, though Roman Candles were safer.
ReplyDeleteMish.
Don't recall those Mish but I think several of them exploded over me tonight standing outside the chippy. I jumped out out of my skin! I do remember Roman Candles. They were like sticks that stood upright. Very colourful fountain of sparks.
DeleteAs I recall, there was a type of Banger called a Little Demon.
ReplyDeleteMish.
Don't recall the little Demon Mish but rockets have come into my head, long ones on sticks that were rested in milk bottles and then lit! Swoosh!
DeleteMost of the time we just had sparklers, but sometimes we also had fireworks. As well as the Catherine wheel, Roman Candles and rockets there were some delights such as a Jumping Jack and either an aeroplane or helicopter one year. I also recall clubbing together with my friends to buy up a few boxes of fireworks and setting them off in all sorts of places (we were 12 or 13 at the time). Standard and Astra are brands I remember best.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories Mish. Those firework helicopters sound familiar. Don't think 13 year old can buy fireworks now. Setting them off in all sorts of places! You naughty boys!
DeleteI remember a small one shaped like a volcano, which may have been called that. A Roman Candle.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the Volcano! Yes Khusru! Like a huge plume of white sparks and intense light! I can see it, yes! Shaped like an upturned screwball!
Delete'Light up the sky with Standard Fireworks'! You must remember that ad?
ReplyDeleteI tried to find it on You Tube for the blog toneet but couldn't Khus. I adored that ad as a kid and it was the national anthem on bommy night! Do you remember the fifth of November!
DeleteOr the joys of Parkin cake and Treacle toffee,
ReplyDeleteYep, loved those. Pie n peas too with pickled rings of raw onion. Butter pies and maybe even cheese and onion pies. Apple bobbing even - remember that? Bonfire toffee was just the best, the big shards of rock hard sugar, not the round lollies you get now.
DeleteI'm from the North West, were we had those.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Preston Khus and lived there till I was 20 in 1980. Happy days, mostly.
DeleteBrocks Fireworks were the big rival to Standard, I always loved the ‘guy’ figure made of fireworks on the Standard ads. I loved the Helicopter, a three inch tube with a plastic spoon shaped propeller attached to the middle, the Rip-Rap or Firecracker that looked like a small paper model of an old fashioned corrugated radiator, Bengal Matches - red and green flares like oversized matches and aeroplanes - similar to copters with a triangular cardboard wing with RAF roundels stapled to the side.
ReplyDeleteGreat vivid memories Wote. I wish I had your memory. There's so much I want to remember. I might have try hypnotism! Don't recall Brocks at all but adored that firework man from Standard. My Dad always brought them home on the 5th November after he finished work. I think he stocked them in his cash n carry warehouse. I remember how dark it was. Sometimes we had a bommy in the garden and sometimes drove round looking at others around Ashton.
DeleteStandard, Astra, Brocks and Wessex were the brands sold in north London. While Bangers were a generic name, different blends of coloured Roman Candles had different names depending on maker. Rockets were guaranteed the worst deal for home use as invariably they disappeared behind a neighbours house.
ReplyDeleteha ha, I remember rockets flying zig zagged everywhere too Terran. I also remember terribly scary TV ads about the dangers of fireworks. Public Information Films. They were really hard hitting!
DeleteMy favourite firework name was "Calling all Cars" I only ever had one. It had a line drawing of a police car on the side.
ReplyDeleteIt was a Roman Candle and when it went off it ejected screaming silver fireballs!
I've never forgotten it...
http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/eclipse/wild1.jpg
DeleteThat is the best firework name I've ever heard Looey! A classic! If I had another blog I'd call it that!
DeleteI am from Walkden. Toffee apples of course. Another thing I like about the NW is meat and potato pies. I've bought some on recent trips north. There are none down south. Surprised Morrisons haven't stocked them
ReplyDeleteSalford area eh! Oh yes, meat and potato pies Khus! Delicious. I also love cheese and onion pies and butter pies when I go back to Lancashire. The thing I miss the most are Steak Puddings in the chippies. They don't have them in Yorkshire. Funny how we miss the food we grew up with!
DeleteWe used to light Bangers 'in the hand' and then throw them into the distance.
ReplyDeleteHighly dangerous and kids across the country burnt their hands, or even lost fingers doing this. Thankfully, this didn't happen to me, or my friends , but this was just how it was then. Thankfully, this is uncommon now.
Mish.
You were a rebel Mish! I wrote my name in the sky with a sparkler, as rebellious as I got that!
DeleteCatching up ...
ReplyDeleteNo Bonfire Night in my native Holland of course, but shortly after midnight on New Year's Day morning we stage a nationwide impression of World War Three. (I'm still looking for satellite pictures of that :)
Catherine wheels we had plus similar things that spin and skitter on the ground. Roman candles could be had as single shot or with an increasing number of barrels depending on budget. Rockets in various sizes, plus "screaming kitchen maids" that produce more sound than visual effects.
Bengal matches were fun because you could toss those into a ditch and they'd tug through the water a fair distance before exploding.
Bangers were boys' favourites of course; the trick being to buy them somewhere under the counter before the official start date and then make a nuisance by using them outside school f ex.
Sizes ranged from the tiny "gnat's fart" to the larger "astronaut" and "bazooka" with a couple untranslatable sizes inbetween. The bazooka was a serious item; we once blew up an abandoned ceramic toilet bowl with just three of them (nowadays you can't get that size any more). The smaller sizes were also available strung together in what we called a "reng-teng" and that in varying lengths to provide a nice impression of automatic gunfire.
Now living in Belgium we used to fire off fireworks on our own (with answering fire from sporadic fellow-Dutchmen living nearby) because the Belgians don't do this at New Year. Or we go back to celebrate in Holland. Where bangers are less popular nowadays, and where there are now moves to restrict the types of firework one can buy in general.
What does stay is the smell of spent fireworks hanging in the streets - one of the nostalgic smells of childhood that still returns. :)
Best -- Paul
I did laugh at that Paul, answering fire from sporadic fellow Dutchmen! ha ha. I great image! Having lived in Germany I would say that their New Year Silvester is easily as big a firework night as our Bonfire Night if not bigger. You certainly know your fireworks Paul and I would have enjoyed a reng teng! I agree about that smell Paul. Loved it!
DeleteI remember a large firework called Mine of Serpents.
ReplyDeleteNow that is my new favourite name Andy!
Delete