DADDY'S FIREWORKS STAND
In the Fall of 1960 we hopped in our 1960 model Ford Falcon station wagon and drove down to South Pittsburg Tennessee. This was before interstate 24 was built. South Pittsburg had warehouses that sold fireworks at wholesale prices. Daddy wanted to set up a fireworks stand and bought about 300.00 dollars worth of fireworks of all kinds. Today 300.00 dollars might buy you a couple of hours of entertainment but in 1960 that was enough fireworks to last a mighty long time. It was rainy and we were on the road much of the day. We packed all the fireworks we could get into our station wagon. When we got home we filled up our den to the ceiling with fireworks. Daddy's goal was to set up a stand for the New Year but he procrastinated and never got it done. One day he came home and told us that the fireworks were ours. I was ecstatic. We told all of our friends in Charlotte Park subdivision. Soon we were dividing up in teams and having fireworks wars. We fired rockets at each other and threw mud balls with firecrackers sticking out of them. They were homemade hand grenades. The woods looked like they were on fire from all of the smoke.
Daddy did try to bootleg some of the fireworks from under the counter at his drugstore but we ended up shooting most of them off. I remember one night at the store I found a sky rocket with a broken stick. We couldn't fire it off the regular way so I laid it down on the sidewalk next to the store and lit the fuse. It shot off and to my horror chased a woman down the street. She was carrying groceries and dropped them all over the ground. The woman knew who I was and came into the store cussing out my mom. Another thing that I liked to do at the store was throw Cracker Balls out on to Charlotte Avenue by the hand full. Today they make a less powerful version called Snaps I believe. Cracker Balls were round and came in various colors. For this reason the Federal government banned them in 1966 because children were mistaking them for candy and they were blowing up in their mouths. Anyway we would throw them out into the street and laugh at motorists reactions when they ran over them with their tires. They were pretty loud..Altogether it took about three years to use up the fireworks that daddy bought.. The brand name of these fireworks were Dixie Boy. The label had a Black child sitting in a watermelon patch eating a piece of watermelon. This logo would definitely be politically incorrect today.
Daddy did try to bootleg some of the fireworks from under the counter at his drugstore but we ended up shooting most of them off. I remember one night at the store I found a sky rocket with a broken stick. We couldn't fire it off the regular way so I laid it down on the sidewalk next to the store and lit the fuse. It shot off and to my horror chased a woman down the street. She was carrying groceries and dropped them all over the ground. The woman knew who I was and came into the store cussing out my mom. Another thing that I liked to do at the store was throw Cracker Balls out on to Charlotte Avenue by the hand full. Today they make a less powerful version called Snaps I believe. Cracker Balls were round and came in various colors. For this reason the Federal government banned them in 1966 because children were mistaking them for candy and they were blowing up in their mouths. Anyway we would throw them out into the street and laugh at motorists reactions when they ran over them with their tires. They were pretty loud..Altogether it took about three years to use up the fireworks that daddy bought.. The brand name of these fireworks were Dixie Boy. The label had a Black child sitting in a watermelon patch eating a piece of watermelon. This logo would definitely be politically incorrect today.
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