Canadian Firecrackers

[FinnAmerican]

Does anyone know when these crackers were in production..?

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5594&stc=1

[FinnAmerican]

Canada banned firecrackers on 27 September 1972, after media reports that two children were killed and three others severely burned when some older children were playing with firecrackers outside their tent. It later came out that the children inside the tent had actually been smoking and, not wanting to tell their parents, had told them they had been playing with firecrackers.

[gweilo]

I would guess they came out in the late 60's. I remember a lot of Bango Brand around at the time. The earliest Canadian brands were made in Macau, and then China (Canada restored relations with the mainland several years before the U.S.). Then it was required that the labels be bilingual. I bought my last bricks of Canadian firecrackers during the summer of '72, and then they were suddenly gone. I remember the story of some kids getting burned in a tent, blaming firecrackers when in fact they'd been smoking. Of course the entire country of Canada had to ban all firecrackers because of that.

[FinnAmerican]

gweilo, would they be flash or black powder..?

[wingman]

All Canadian crackers had black powder, some really good and some not worth writing home about.

[halk]

Agree. Flashpowder has never been legal to use in firecrackers made for the Canadian market. Nearly all were sold there by three companies, Hand's, Parkdale, and Commercial Agencies.

[displayfireworks1]

I believe this pack of firecrackers I have is from Canada. Anyone know what year these are from?
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[wingman]

I would say both yours and Finn's are from 1970-72. The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act in Canada was put into law in 1970 that all products have English and French print. Crackers were banned officially in 1972, leaving many containers full of cases of bricks to lie in rot.

[halk]

Yes and tons of pre-1970 crackers that all of a sudden were unsalable. I saw a half pickup load of old Hand's stuff, all in old wooden boxes, at a PGI convention. I doubt that the earliest crackers made for the Canadian market were made in Macau. Jebsen, who had crackers made for them for export to many countries, dates back to the end of the 19th Century and many of the oldest packs made for Hand's are marked "Made in China". I think this one dates before 1930 when Hand's moved from Hamilton to Milton, Ontario.

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[wingman]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5601&stc=1
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I came across a packet of these last month for Hand's. I wonder if they were marketed in the same way even earlier? I think I have a few packs of Martians or Astronaut so at least they can compliment this within the same time frame.

[displayfireworks1]

I would say both yours and Finn's are from 1970-72. The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act in Canada was put into law in 1970 that all products have English and French print. Crackers were banned officially in 1972, leaving many containers full of cases of bricks to lie in rot.

Interesting history on firecrackers and Canada. I did not know that. Are these Martian ones black powder?

[gweilo]

As Wingman and Halk stated, virtually all firecrackers made for the Canadian market were black powder. This is usually indicated as "mandarin crackers" or "firecrackers" on the label instead of flash crackers. The Martian firecrackers are indeed black powder too, and unfortunately not very good ones. The firecrackers that were distributed through Hand's seem to be generally inferior to the black powder crackers that came in on the west coast of Canada. The Canadian firecrackers with all red wraps have always performed much better for me than the checkerboard wrapped 2" crackers.
I've tried, in vain, to discover when Canada mandated that all firecrackers imported into the country be black powder only. There has been some speculation that prior to WWII they may have imported the same firecrackers as the U.S. did, but that continues to be speculation. I know Great Britain allowed the use of flash powder in their "bangers" until the 1960's.

[FinnAmerican]

I have another one made for the Canadian market:
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5603&stc=1

[wingman]

I have another one made for the Canadian market:
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5603&stc=1

Nice! Same time frame as well. I had a 50s count strip of those and underneath that label was a partial label for Superior Mandarin crackers by Flying Fairy. Flying Fairy made some of the best black powder crackers.

[gweilo]

I agree that Flying Fairy Brand made some of the best BP crackers. It was a mainland brand though, so it's interesting that a Macau label was pasted over a Chinese Superior Mandarin label. It's certainly not the first or last time that happened though!