Today I would love for you to hop on in my 4th of July mobile and take a little memory stroll with me. I promise you will have the best time riding along.
Growing up in the Choate family, the 4th of July was always a special time. My sweet Moma and Grandma, had ran a firecracker stand for years. It looked much like this one I have shared with you today. Grand Daddy built it, and then when the location was decided it would be put on the back of the hay truck and hauled to the location for business. (Ours had a shelf built on the front that you could stack up the items, as they were selected though.) We also had a BIG sign out front that said, "Choate Fireworks." All the kids came there. They knew our family, and Grandma could tell you the name of every kid that walked up there. Now Hennessey, Oklahoma isn't a big town, but everyone knew the Choates.
It was a way of making some extra money for the families during the Summer months, as Moma didn't work during the Summer when us kids were out of school. It was also a time for Moma and Grandma to share time together. They would laugh and share stories in between the customers. Us kids would sit and laugh too as we drank our tea from the Mason jars and ate the wonderful lunches that Grandma would bring each and every day. (I now know how early she must have gotten up each day to pack those lunches.) She has been gone for 34 years, but I still see that smile and I can still hear her laugh as if she were sitting right here having tea with me today.
Now these were the BEST sellers, and as far as I know, still are today. They are the Black Cats. They have a really loud POP, and we all had to buy the biggest packs we could. Some of us would just light them all off at the same time, a continuous pop until they had all sizzled out. And ofcourse when a customer purchased firecrackers, you always included a couple of PUNKS. No, I am not talking about (Kids- punks) PUNKS are what you light and then you use it to light your firecrackers fuse with. Let me tell you, I had plenty of burns from those darn PUNKS too.
OMG this was the best. The parachutes. We usually bought the daytime, you can keep up with them a little better, but these night ones were fun also. We would play with those darn parachutes for days to come. Do any of you remember these?
Snakes, Snakes OMG. I loved the snakes. You would light them and they would crawl out of a little black marshmallow shaped object. They would mark up the sidewalk and patios so you had to make sure you placed them on a flat rock or board. Oh Daddy hated those burn marks on the concrete. I loved to watch the snakes, and they had daytime and night time ones.
If we weren't marking up the sidewalk with snakes, then another favorite thing to have were the smoke bombs. We liked them because you could color the grass with them. Oh yes, Daddy loved these. I loved the red ones most. We found out the purple colored balls you didn't want, they only made grey smoke. Nobody wanted to get stuck with a purple one.
Roman candles were another great color attraction for night. We bought the 10 ball, as these would shoot out 10 times, a colored ball that made a beautiful spray. You got more bang for the buck. You could put them in a can of sand, light the wick and get out of the way. If the wind blew your can over, you had better be ready to run, because believe me, the balls still keep shooting out. We had plenty of experience over the years.
And what would the 4th of July be without Sparklers? OMG I loved the red ones best. They had red, green, blue, silver and gold, but yes, I loved the red most of all. We always bought extras and saved them for the New Year. It was a tradition in our family. Instead of going out and beating on pots and pans and screaming, we lit sparklers and made wishes for the new year. Those were the BEST of the times. If you remember them, what color were your favorite? Go red, go red...
These are just a few of my memories today. I loved fireworks. Love the memory of Moma and Grandma together most of all. I dedicate this post to my Grandma, Minnie Choate, for all the wonderful times we had at the firecracker stand, for all the wonderful dinners you cooked, and for loving all of us grandkids so much, that even after 34 years of being gone, I still feel your hugs, I still see your smile and still hear your laughter. Thanks for the Memories. I love you.
As always, thank you for stopping by my little piece of heaven, here in the desert, that I so love to call home. Country hugs and much love,
