Some of that old school

A nice collection of some very old fireworks from way back in the day. These have been beautifully preserved, note the quality of the colours, simple artwork but still with good impact. Also, notice the great names. Firework names have always been important. They give a feeling of what can be expected from a firework, a clue to its effects, Scarlet Fury, or Carnival Spray have very obvious sounding effects. Star Hell is a little less obvious but blatantly appealing to the lads. Sometimes a good name can sell a firework as much as attractive artwork.

Back when bangers were bangers. If you are too young to remember bangers, they were brilliant. One of the highlights for many of us during the bonfire night season was buying a box of bangers and risking life and limb (or at least extremities) while enjoying the excitement of safely placing them upright in the soft ground and lighting the rounded dome at arm's length and retiring to a safe distance. These are so old that there is no rounded dome to light, just the strange looking protrusion from the top.

Some king size sparklers in the good old-fashioned packaging. Note the text on the wrapper: Hold the tip in a flame until it sparkles - good advice. For outdoor use - good advice again. Not to be held near clothing - excellent, you can tell they really thought it through. Take care of children - good advice generally, even better when talking about fireworks.

Very simple colours and designs adorn the plain paper packet. A long way from the foil used today with all its shiny and multi-coloured attractiveness. Yet, there is something comforting about the simple and understated design. It harkens back to better days when perhaps the contents were more important than presentation. To often we are bombarded by bright colourful packaging that is full of promises, only to be disappointed when we tear the seal and see what is inside. For fireworks artwork at least, sometimes less is more.

If you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, explore some other brilliant and nostalgic images from the past with some old photographs from bonfire nights gone by.