Roman Candles were all the rage then as they are now. They are, so the anoraks tell me, the oldest form of firework, dating back hundreds of years to the Chinese who were the first to make fireworks. A Roman Candles generally shoot colored stars up into the sky which often burst with differing effects such as colored peonies. What? A peony is a firework effect that looks like a spherical ball of colored light, usually red or green. Sniff, I thought everybody knew that. You really do need to know your stuff if you are going to buy fireworks!
Catherine – Where Are You?
When you buy fireworks today you can still buy Catherine wheels but today they tend to be called wheels. I’m not sure why the name changed but it’s probably because Catherine got bored and went home. Dad was always chief firework lighter and there was always a little tension as he lit the Catherine wheel which burst into showers of sparks spinning like a whirling Dervish while Mum hovered anxiously in case her brand new wooden fence caught light. There must be thousands of larch wood fences throughout the UK that have dramatic scorch marks like ours did.