Lady fingers

[nayslayer]

I stopped at a firework store and asked about lady fingers. The gentleman said that they aren't being made anymore due to wages and cost. Is this true? I know a few years ago I was able to get some megabanger crackers.

[jknepp1954]

Partially true - many factories that use to make them don't anymore.
there are very few factories making - and i think thru time there won't be anymore - too labor intensive, cost, and wages does not equal profit.
We at Kneppys have some - but when they are gone - they are gone!!!

[nayslayer]

Thanks, one day I'll have to make the trip out there with the family.

[countryboy7978]

Ladyfingers will soon be a thing of the past. Most brand labels dropped them since only 1 factory continues to make them. They more expensive in many cases. Other than Black Cat, most of the UN ladies were awful performers. I have purchased many of the DOT era ladyfingers including Thunder Bomb, Black Cat, Zebra, and my favorite Boomer (Red Lantern) with the dark blue labels. A Boomer will outperform almost any modern 1.5" firecracker. They and their cousins Mighty Mite 1" and Super Charged 1.5" had a truly wicked flash powder and liberal amounts of it. I am convinced that it uses an alloy metal for a fuel instead of straight Al.

[an-eighties-kid]

I LOVE ladyfingers almost as much as I like standard crackers. :) I have a few bricks of link triads, thunderbomb and boomers.... I am always on the lookout for more. :)

-a8k

[countryboy7978]

Same here. I always got boomers as a kid. They came 1600 in a brick for the same cost of a 40/16 of Black Cat. To me they were the same loudness.

[dchambers490]

I third that motion! The boomer ladies with the blue label and red warning box are better than most modern 1.5 inch clay sticks of disappointment for sure. Very bright flash and ear ringing report. Very well made with perfect crimps on both sides. A work of art if you ask me! Modern lady fingers are well just junk. Countryboy 7978 have you ever shot any of the class 4 ladies like warrior, zebra, or anchor?

[countryboy7978]

I have Warrior brand ladyfingers in 40s and 80s. I have never seen Anchor ladyfingers nor any Class 4 Zebra. I believe Class 5/6 Zebra ladyfingers were Red Lanterns in a Zebra wrap.

[dchambers490]

Countryboy7978 have you ever shot the warrior ladies? I have one 80 strip of Zebra ladies ICC class 4 that was given to me but won't shoot it as it is part of my collection.http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2753&stc=1

[countryboy7978]

Yes I’ve shot Warriors. They are comparable to Boomer in sound but the workmanship is not as nice. The Zebras I’ve seen were actually Red Lantern Crackers. I don’t think Li & Fung made ladyfingers at all. Black Cat ladies I’m pretty sure were Link Triad. All red with choked top.
Most ladies are max loaded by design but I’ve been hard pressed to find better than Boomer.

[KillRideMedley]

Are Thunderbomb (Horse or Tiger) or Red Lantern Lightning Firecracker Ladyfingers decent?

[countryboy7978]

Red Lantern ladyfingers are the best in my opinion. They came out as Red Lantern Supercharged 7/8” and then were rewrapped as Lightning, Mighty Mite and most commonly Boomer. The Thunder Bombs came from a different factory but are no slouch.

[countryboy7978]

Earlier Horse were wrapped in red and green while Tiger Head (in the yellow and orange pack) had red green and yellow wraps on them. All has full 50mg loads, Boomer/RL used (apparently) a different flash powder, most likely an alloy like Magnalium which gives a fierce white/yellow flash. If you find 1” Boomers or Mighty Mites they contain the same powder but much more

[KillRideMedley]

Is there much of a difference Between the Red Caution & White Warning Label Boomers? I would think since the Red cautions are older they might be a little better.

[halk]

My favorites are the old blackpowder ladycrackers, with the pleasing sound and wonderful smell

[dchambers490]

Is there much of a difference Between the Red Caution & White Warning Label Boomers? I would think since the Red cautions are older they might be a little better.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2754&stc=1boomers

[dchambers490]

Wow! Really struggled to upload images of my boomers. I have found that the red warning boomers are better than the white warning ones. The red are older. Sometimes bricks vary in quality for sure. My last brick with white warning had duds and poor fusing. But when they went off were good. The red label warning ladies have always been really good! The UN 0336 on the far left are junk for sure! The 1 inch red lantern boomers on the far right are awsome! The red one inch boomers with the blue warning are made by Hoihing which I know nothing about that company. They are late DOT have cut ends and are very good! The rest are Red lantern. I agree with countryboy7978 you would be hard pressed to find better ladies than the older red lantern stuff. I also have mighty mites from red lantern and they are hot too! Even the early mighty mites with clay were very good for the most part.

[KillRideMedley]

Finally took a Picture of my 7/8 Bricks.Mighty Mite is a UN.
https://i.imgur.com/L3Aes2E.jpg

and TB Tiger Pillow Pack
https://i.imgur.com/8EYzYZh.jpg

[dchambers490]

Very nice! The ladies in the top left are Angel brand. Have you tried them killridemelody? What is the brand in the upper right corner? Gotta love the variety they had back in the day!

[countryboy7978]

I don’t post photos here because it’s a pain. The file sizes are always too large or they fail for some reason. I’ve had or have all the ladyfingers above. The red caution box Boomers are slightly better than the warning box which are late Class 6. There are actually two different types of red box Boomers. One is slightly larger and they do pack a bigger punch in my opinion. The white with stripes label came from
A different factory but should either be Red Lantern or Angel brand. I have seen a Horse brand with that label before too but it’s rare. The 1” Mighty/Boomer with the clay fuse end and the crimped bottom are brutal. The crimped are even heavier. I even have Zebras and Black Cats in 1” which I’m pretty sure are also from the Red Lantern factory. Just different wraps. Come to think about it I even have dark blue Boomers in UN that are pretty good. Link Triads aren’t bad and are also rewrapped for Black Cat Class 6 ladies. Candy bar flash crackers are also fun. Not as loud but super tiny. Probably 75% of a Boomer. Lots of cool stuff came in the DOT era.

[KillRideMedley]

Very nice! The ladies in the top left are Angel brand. Have you tried them killridemelody? What is the brand in the upper right corner? Gotta love the variety they had back in the day!

Yeah Both are Angel Brand.The Blues and Layout of the packs are different.I have like 20 loose 80s Packs of Boomer white labels i'll be using for shooting. I'm gonna keep these bricks complete for my collection.

[KillRideMedley]

Anybody know when Years these are from
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2778&stc=1

[BillRoss]

I do have a guess. If the graphics on the label of the "ladyfinger" crackers is the same that was used on the 1.5x16 crackers, this is the second generation of "Thunder Bomb" crackers. That would make them 1973. But I am not an authority. Perhaps halk or countryboy7978 will comment. Or maybe PM one or both of them.

[countryboy7978]

I’m going to bevthe first to admit that I don’t know the exact year on these although they are most likely the first generation of Thunder Bomb ladyfingers. There were far less Ladyfinger variety than 1.5” variety by far. Of the flat packs (non candy bar) of Thunder Bomb ladyfingers I only know of these, the Bomb logo back wrap version, and the tiger head brand with the orange and yellow label.

[halk]

We need to define ladyfingers and ladycrackers here. Definitely nothing over 15/16" long or over 3/16" diameter?

[dchambers490]

That's kind of hard as the class 3 and 4 ladies were bigger than class 5 but agree with you that under 1 inch and under 3/16" in diameter is what I consider a true Lady! 1 inch crackers are in a whole different catagory. I love the smaller stuff for sure. The class 3 and 4 ladies were somewhere between the 7/8 by 1/6 diameter and your definition.

[halk]

There are names for crackers longer than 15/16" and <3/16" diameter. Two that I have seen are "big ladyfingers" and "big ladycrackers'. Not to be confused with "junior" that usually is used on 1/4" crackers.

[KillRideMedley]

Does anybody know which of the Red Caution Boomers are older?

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2841&stc=1

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2842&stc=1


I guessing the 7/8 x 1/6 label.

[dchambers490]

Great question KillRideMedley! I don't have a answer just clues. I have both. One brick label only had the 7/8 on it but the packs have 7/8 x 1/6 on them. I have a unopened brick that has only the 7/8 on the brick label and the packs. I have 40 count packs with 7/8 x 1/6 that I know were from 1985. My guess is that both packs have the caution statement vs. the newer warning lable so they are from the same time period. The true class 5 ladies by Red lantern were labeled Super Charged and only 7/8ths on the label. Also had the manufactured by people's republic of China printed on the label. Sometimes manufactures changed labels slightly or made mistakes and were too cheap to throw them away and just used what was on hand. Wish I new more about the history of the name Boomer! Perhaps the name came about when the red lantern factory was no longer ran by the government. Just my guess KillRide Medley!

[halk]

Don't know, but guessing the blue/white/yellow from 1978? as they had some of the Cautions stamped in instead of printed.

[dchambers490]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2859&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2859&stc=1are these the ones you were talking about Halk?

[countryboy7978]

There’s are several types of labels but mostly the crackers were the same. There are some slightly fatter Boomers with the blue label. I also have the old Class 5 and the clear cello wrapped lightning versions. Funny but some Lightning’s are sawn. Not sure if they have clay but they are sawn. Red green and yellow wraps.

[STASH MASTER]

Ive got a Black Cat brick from ???? I think the mid 70s ,, of the lady fingers , Nice brick , Need a price check on it if possible .

[dchambers490]

I would love to see a picture of Black Cat brick STASH MASTER. I would like to see this thread continue it has over 4000 views!

[dchambers490]

6445644664456445

[dchambers490]

6447 These lady fingers are some of the best I have tried. I believe these were imported around the time the embargo against Chinese goods was lifted. They have perfect crimps, great fusing, and loud report.