Goodbye Crackernight

[bossninja17]

I came across a book called Goodbye, Crackernight ( see http://crackernight.com/ ). Loved it. Written by a bloke, although 10 years younger than me, grew up in my suburb and his experiences would probably parallel many of us. He mentions many of the TV shows, fashions, etc that we grew up with - and of course, cracker night. Anyone eelse have great memories of cracker night?

[Caveoftreasures]

when i was apx 8 to 10 yrs old, a little girl 3 doors up was blinded in both eyes by a drunk father with firecrackers, a few people had hands or fingers blown off, and the body damage report every firecracker night used to be large. Firecrackers were fun, dont get me wrong, but IDIOTS who couldnt take care of themselves let alone gunpowder/explosive devices etc ruined it for everyone. At least you dont see dozens of young kids mamed every year because they are now banned in most states.

and YES, I was also a naughty boy who used to have these ones/crackers called 6 and 12 ball shooters and we would all stock up on them, and the different nationality groups of kids in the street (Sydneysider Greek versus Iitalian versus Turks versus Aussies versus Asians versus who-ever was next etc) used to gang up on the other nationality etc, and it was on for young and old. Many kids went to school with bright red dots/burns on their foreheads from the firecracker wars.lol  .....ahhh the 1970's, different times.lol   But i am glad kids are safe these days.

[rustalan]

AAAHHHHH I remember cracker night but back then we had 2. Guy falks night and I think Australia day. In the 60's we had real fireworks that could destroy a mailbox in 1 go called thrippenny bungers not to be confused with the tuppenny one. The penny one would fit in the handlebar of your bike just, and you could blow your hand grips off, lucky if you ever found them again. Also great for blowing up bullys nests. All available at the local milkbar Including the one opposite my primary school  so you could put in your lunch order and but sixpence worth of crackers.

[Freiherr]

I remember the late 60s and early 70s well. You could buy crackers once a year ( month prior to Queen's Birthday long weekend in June).
Milk bars, toy/bike shops, service stations, newsagents, even Woolworths sold fireworks. Most places sold various crackers as single packs or you could buy a mixed pack of various content. Woolies for example sold 2, 5, 10 or 20 dollar packs. This does not sound like a lot of fireworks but believe me, there was plenty there for a good night. Pinball was only 5 cents per game, a loaf of bread was 23 cents and petrol was 30 cents a gallon (about 7 cents a litre).
Most kids were sensible with matches and fireworks. There were cracker mishaps but so were bike or tree climbing falls. Kids used to buy smokes for their dads (no need for ID) and we were a tough and sensible generation.
The worst part of cracker night was the smoke from the bonfires combined with the late night/early morning fog. We were coming home early one morning from our cousin's place and dad had to drive real slow as the smog was so thick.