10 replies to this topic

[motormouth]

Hi

Looking back a few years to when most fireworks on sale were made in the UK what was your favorite brand and why ?

Since I'm only 19 I don't remember that much old stuff but Standard did some good stuff in the early and mid 90s and we had loads of their stuff.

Astra also did some good stuff back then.

[Mortartube]

You missed out Wells & Wilders. But at 19 years old it's to be expected you young whippersnapper, BTW Wells were a pile of pants in general as was Pains IMHO. I can't speak for Wilders though. Brocks followed by Standard were the best to my recollection.

[Rip Rap]

motormouth,
most of the really good British fireworks were banned by 1975. My personal favourite, the Jumping Cracker, went in '72. Proper flash bangers went in the late '60's. Helicopters, aeroplanes etc (anything of free & eratic flight) went by about '74 or '75.
My personal favourite manufacturer was Pains. Not because their fireworks were better than the rest (some were, alot weren't) but because I loved their label designs.

[Phoenix]

I've always been curius about this: Shells were removed from sale to the general public in 1997 (along with crackers and probably a few other things. Mini rockets?). I didn't notice at the time, since I had little more interest in new firework legislation than any other ten year old. I can remember having firecrackers at family displays, but we never had shells and I cannot remember ever seeing them for sale in shops. Like most people, I was unaware of "shells" until I actually became interested in pyrotechnics. I just thought that professional displays had big rockets. Were they actually common in garden displays? Would supermarkets have them on sale, or were they kind of specialised items like lancework, waterfalls or mortar mines that the general public _can_ buy in theory, but usually don't.

Why did they remove them from sale to the public and not rockets? Shells of the equivelant size are safer than rockets if used correctly, since they go in a straight line (don't nose dive into the audience) and have minimal fallout. I guess it was because clueless people who didn't read the instructions would sit one the floor, light the leader, and retire to a few metres, or perhaps because they do more damage if one hits you? Or were they abused more, like lighting and throwing or something?


I'm also cuious about the firecrackers that were available until then. As I say, I can remeber seeing and using some then. I hardly really remember, but I think they were about 8cm long by 1cm O.D. I also remember the ones we had were blue and yellow, suggesting they were made by Bright Star. This seems rather large, suggesting that what we used to have were bigger than what the Americans currently have (50mg). What were the size limits on these, and also on shells. Like I say, I don't remeber any of this, as I wasn't interested at the time, but I am now. In fact, I'd love to hear anything about the construction of any of the fireworks that are no longer available to the public.

[Mortartube]

The final straw to the withdrawal of shells to members of the general public came when two people killed themselves in the same year. One incident I don't remember much about, but the other involved a schoolmaster who returned to a lit shell sometime after nothing had happened (at the schools display AFAIK), and the shell (a 3" plastic cased colour shell made by Zink of Germany), removed the majority of his head. The subsequent investigation declared that the firework performed in the manner that it was designed to. This is an unpleasant incident which most likely was caused by operator error. These details were relayed to me within a day of the incident by a person who had spoken to the seller of the shell (the company shall remain nameless). Naturally the government saw this as a step too far and banned shells under an emergency order. This order was made permanent by new legislation a few months later.

Other horror stories include one relayed to me by a local trading standards officer when I was involved in the trade. A consignment of Cat 4 fireworks were stolen in Kent and some ended up at a newsagents. A woman bought an 8" shell and was supplied with a 5" mortar tube. She was told that the tube was a pedestal so that you can sit the firework on the top "To view it at eye level. She became suspicious when she got it home and saw a cat 4 warning sticker on it and contacted the local authority and probably saved the lives of herself and her family who had a very small garden.

I did see shells available in our local toyshop supplied by Standard. I remember seeing 3 x 4" San-Tai Taiwanese shells and a 4" mortar at a whopping ?85.00. At the time the total cat 4 value to a trade buyer was about ?16.00.

I have posted this as an illustration of some of the reasons why the government took the decision to ban shell sales to the public.

[Phoenix]

You know, I think I actually do remember an incident on the news where a teacher was hit in the head and killed by something whilst firing a school display. I guess this may well have been it. I suppose that if you use them incorrectly shells do have more potential for harm than rockets, and most members of the public would know what to do with a rocket. On the other hand I can see how accidents like the one you describe (that nearly happened) could occur. I suppose even if shells were sold with the proper directions there would always be people who didn't "ALWAYS READ THE LABEL" and ended up trying to fire them sans mortar. I guess maybe they are best left to people who have a good understanding of how to use them, and exactly why they must be used in that way.

On your last point, 4" seems very large. That dwarfs any current rockets, doesn't it? Even the ?25 a piece German ones are only the size of a 3" shell, and judging by how much the ones I have seen rattled, you get quite a lot of air for you money too.

(PS - My Dad says Brock's were the best too )

Edited by Phoenix, 25 February 2004 - 09:53 PM.

[Firefiend]

It's amazing just how many firework manufacturers have disappeared I collect old firework memorabilia and have a list of 30 British manufacturers that have gone and there are probably more. Some other more recent ones (1960's-on) to add to the list are Excelsior, Pain's-Wessex, Rainbow, Wessex and Wizard.

I have to agree with Rip Rap about Pain's and later Pain's-Wessex. Their firework label designs and advertising was really brilliant. Brock's stuff was pretty good as well.

I don't think much of the old stuff compares with the latest fireworks for power and effect and I'd be hard pushed to choose between many of the old makes, but there are a load of interesting types that have been banned. You can add Parachute Floating Lights and Flyers to those already mentioned. Indoor Fireworks seem to have largely disappeared as well. It's a shame, and if the same logic were applied to many other everyday things, a lot would be banned.

Apart from the Fireworks Heritage Website, Fireworks Magazine is a great place to learn about these companies, if you're interested. :-)

Edited by Firefiend, 25 February 2004 - 10:21 PM.

[Mortartube]

I already subscribe to the fireworks magazine and I can heartily recommend it although it will not list formulae or manufacture techniques, it deals with the history of fireworks and companies as well a current companies and legislation.

Phoenix states that 4" shells are very large, the British Standard BS:7114:Part 2:1988 allowed shells up to 5" dia for sale to the public and still with only a 25m viewing distance. This was ridiculous as an eye level burst would easily send stars further than that.

Most of the ?25.00 German rockets are made in China with a German label on them and the heading is usually just a shell placed on top of the rocket in a tube. Very little stuff is made in Europe and is usually Chinese in origin as the labour costs are so much cheaper.

[pyrotechnist]

You missed out Wells & Wilders. But at 19 years old it's to be expected you young whippersnapper, BTW Wells were a pile of pants in general as was Pains IMHO. I can't speak for Wilders though. Brocks followed by Standard were the best to my recollection.

Sorry for bumping an old topic but what made Wells and Pains fireworks crap? did any of the old British fireworks work well?

[Mortartube]

Having to spoken to someone who worked for both companies and he cites Pains as being the worst. They had a very odd attitude, according to my source, They might say, "We made 1000 rockets today" and if someone pointed out that they would go 10 feet and explode, they would reply "Maybe, but we made 1000 rockets today". The quality was never an issue, the quantity was.

He also cites the much lauded Wells Snowdrop fountain as (and I quote), "The biggest pile of snot we ever made".

It would seem that quantity and money were always the higher issues than quality.

If anyone disagrees with the things I have written here, I say, don't shoot the messenger. This comes from one who worked at both places.

Edited by Mortartube, 03 September 2008 - 12:23 AM.

[crystal palace fireworks]

Most of the newsagents & toy shops where I grew-up in the 60`s 70`s stocked Astra and Standard, and occasionally Brock`s stuff, although I do remember buying Pains and Benwells for some of there bangers in the early 60`s!

In my opinion, Pains were the best in packaging designs,................If I can remember correctly, Im sure the firework tubes were different pastal colours with that guy fawkes type figure on them?

Overall I bought mostly Astra,.......... (better price than Standard although the packaging was not as colourful as Standard, but also it was the only brand that was in every shop where I lived).