Original patent for cherry bombs (with optional smoke and stars) from 1930

[dirtysouthpyro]

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1783999

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/a6/87/a8/c77e48399e815a/US1783999.pdf


Hope you find it as interesting as I did

[displayfireworks1]

Isn't it fun to look at some of the history of fireworks in United States. I heard so many stories over the years. Most people don't want to tell them on camera. One of my favorites from back in the day was this person we will call him, would park in the lot of this unnamed state manufacture in the early AM and sleep in the car until he heard a knock on the side window of the car to wake him. Then they would load up the vehicle full of M-80's and he would drive off. He said the glue smelled so bad he had to open all the windows in the vehicle to breath. Another story coming to mind , the big truck would arrive at his home and they would pull out a ramp to his door and unload cases of M-80 into his home. One of the people in these tow stories became a millionaire and the other went to prison for a short time. This is back when hucksters were needed in the fireworks world. I find it all very fascinating.

[RalphieJ]

Under "Cited by (4), be sure to explore the document by Apollo of the Ozarks.

[RalphieJ]

I have personally seen (early '80's) at a middle distributor's home, 30 gallon plastic garbage cans filled with M-80's that he would then pack (1 gross per brown lunch bag, 10 gross per box) for the retail sellers. He said they were manufactured, get this, in apartment houses in lower Manhattan. This was when the mob was still involved with illicit fireworks sales.

[countryboy7978]

Very cool read. This is one i havent yet seen. Thank you.

[yoshisbar]

Still remember to this day 1989 in Conneaut Ohio, I was living there when the house across town exploded, I was literally a block away 30 minutes before mowing grass(and luckily left before the boom). Guy had a m80+ bigger manufacturing place in his basement in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Blew his van out of his garage and into the neighbors house and killed the lady there. the hole left in the basement was filled with m80 tubes so the fire dept quickly and correctly called the ATF in... Estimate he had 3-4 55 gallon drums of product and more in MIXED chemicals, my house was 1/2 mile from there and broke the picture window in the front....

[displayfireworks1]

The 1989 Conneaut Ohio explosion is yet another tragic story about making M-80 for distribution.
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https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/starbeacon.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/2f/f2f89adc-5b1f-11e4-a291-5b37f78f2a14/5449b0498ba01.image.jpg
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Here is the property today 909 Main st Conneaut Ohio.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2950&stc=1
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Link to the story from 1989
http://www.starbeacon.com/news/fireworks-explosion-rocked-conneaut-years-ago-today/article_1c2bb1a6-5b0b-11e4-8919-27d230114a33.html
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CONNEAUT —.

Today, 909 Main St., is an empty lot that fronts busy Route 20. A quarter-century ago, the parcel contained a large, white house and garage that basically vanished amid smoke and fire at 11:40 a.m.

At that moment, homeowner Donald A. “Danny” Rossi, 57, was inside the garage, mixing chemicals he planned to use to make illegal fireworks, specifically M-80s (equivalent to a quarter-stick of dynamite) and M-500s (up to a half-stick). Something went wrong and the blend detonated with terrible force. Flames would eventually ignite an estimated 500 pounds of finished product stored in the garage and basement of the house.

The toll was heavy: Two dead, including Rossi and next-door neighbor June Riddle, 61, of Cummins Avenue, who had just exited her car and entered her home when the first explosion occurred. More than 70 homes and buildings sustained millions of dollars in damage from concussions that broke windows a mile away and were reportedly felt in Albion, Pa.

Five people — a married couple from Conneaut and three men from Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York — were eventually indicted on conspiracy charges. The three out-of-state men, accused of providing storage space and/or ingredients to make fireworks, were found guilty after a weeks-long trial in May 1991 in Akron’s federal court. Each were sentenced to more than one year in federal prison.

Federal investigators concluded Rossi was operating a “small-to-medium sized, illegal fireworks manufacturing firm” on the premises. Layers of chemical residue found in the garage floor drain indicated the operation had occurred for “quite some time,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Rossi made the product, while partners handled sales and storage.

Oct. 24, 1989, is one of those days many Conneaut residents, particularly first-responders, can’t and won’t forget

[yoshisbar]

Today, 909 Main St., is an empty lot that fronts busy Route 20. A quarter-century ago, the parcel contained a large, white house and garage that basically vanished amid smoke and fire at 11:40 a.m.
Oct. 24, 1989, is one of those days many Conneaut residents, particularly first-responders, can’t and won’t forget

And Don't quote me, but I believe one of the firefighters at the time, later bought that lot, and promised nothing would ever be built there in his lifetime as a memory for that... which is why in a prime spot 25+years later nothing is there..

[RalphieJ]

".......equivalent to a quarter-stick of dynamite........" Who in the heck ever started that? Makes me chuckle every time I see it.

[displayfireworks1]

My guess is the people that started selling them introduced those terms .
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From Wikipedia
The term quarter stick is based on a quarter-stick of dynamite, which it somewhat resembles. However, quarter stick firecrackers do not contain nitroglycerin as dynamite does, and have far less explosive power.

[RalphieJ]

"My guess is the people that started selling them introduced those terms." I always suspected it was police officials to scare the bejabbers out of people to discourage them from purchasing those dangerous items. It's common practice, whether it be fireworks, drugs, guns, MPH, etc for them to embellish a little. Back it the '70's-'80's when I was young and foolish and merchandising "holiday toys" the NYSP confiscated a station wagon on a trip up from the south "carrying $5,000 worth of illicit (Class C) fireworks". It was IMPOSSIBLE back then to squeeze $5K retail, much less wholesale, into the back of a station wagon. Believe me, I tried, it cannot be done.

[Mattp]

Growing up here in south ny in the 80's/90's. we had m-80's, blockbusters and pineapples.. wich were also known as 1/8,1/4,1/2 sticks respectively.. lol..

[RalphieJ]

Growing up here in south ny in the 80's/90's. we had m-80's, blockbusters and pineapples.. wich were also known as 1/8,1/4,1/2 sticks respectively.. lol..

Our supplier called M-80's "dimes", so ordering our "coins" over the phone was "dimes", "quarters", and "halves". He actually did deal in coins, this is how he wanted us to order our holiday stuff when on the phone. Shipped in 5 days or less.

[Mattp]

Our supplier called M-80's "dimes", so ordering our "coins" over the phone was "dimes", "quarters", and "halves". He actually did deal in coins, this is how he wanted us to order our holiday stuff when on the phone. Shipped in 5 days or less.

That is funny... Shipped??.. lol.. thats crazy. Ya, our was always that brown paper lunch bag.. filled in the back of a trunk, or a garage

[RalphieJ]

That is funny... Shipped??.. lol.. thats crazy. Ya, our was always that brown paper lunch bag.. filled in the back of a trunk, or a garage

Every year was a different color: Ruby, crimson, orange, pink, kraft, silver, even emerald green one year.