Historic Fireworks Sounds Question

[displayfireworks1]

This is a question I received from the internet; all comments on this would be welcome. It sounds like the requestor works in the television sound department. The inquiry is about sound effects of fireworks. The question for us would be what aerial sound effects other than boom existed back in the early forties in United States. Did the whistle and crackle effect exist back then or were the effects just simple chrysanthemum? I believe every shell had a report back in the day. Please comment if you can help. The requestor is not a member of the forums, however; he will follow along and read the comments.
Thanks displayfireworks1
hello dave,



my name is xxxxxxxx and i'm working on a television show up here in xxxxxx. i'm trying to find out some historical facts that would help me on the show i'm working on. i edit sound effects, and would like to know if fireworks from the 1940-42 era would have had the sounds of whistles and whooshes as the modern fireworks do? i'm talking only about the ones that are launched in the air and not fountains or ground bloom flowers and the such.




i'm trying to retain some historical truths for this show in the sound effects that i choose. since my sound effect libraries were recorded in the last 25 years, i don't want to accidentaly put in a sound that didn't exist back then.




if you have any insight into this it would help me out.




cheers and have a good day,

P.

[jknepp1954]

Sounds like that is a question to ask one of the much older companies - such as Zambelli, Grucci, Rossi, Vitale...
Unless someone is really factually into the history of fireworks. Hubby seems to "think" that there was - just not too much variety then as there is now.

[displayfireworks1]

Joyce, you got me thinking I have an old Pyrotecnico catalog from 1951 I am going to have to dig up. My memories of watching professional display fireworks goes back to the mid 1960’s. If my memory is correct every shell back then was a break and report or multiple break and report. I do not remember the seeing the complex effects that we see today.
I found the catalog from 1951 as far as an audible effect they have listed “whistling dragons and aerial wigglers” Perhaps this was tourbillions as we know them today. There are descriptions of “machine gun” effects.