Growing up on Long Island, all fireworks were illegal. Therefore, there was none of that "safe n sane" stuff. Everyone had the real fireworks, the bottle rockets, firecrackers, roman candles, etc... They were all smuggled in by the truckload from North Carolina where EVERYTHING was legal (don't know if it still is). The police generally looked the other way unless you were being ridiculously dangerous with them, but they would drive right past block parties where people had arsenals and not even stop.
I remember that my dad would give me 20 or 30 bucks and I would go to this guys house (he was a biker) and when you got there, he would hand you a pre-printed list of what he had, with prices. You would check off what you wanted and he would go into his basement and fill up a shopping bag. Man, if anyone had ever dropped a cigarette in his basement, you probably would have seen the show from Conneticut.
Of course, the one thing we had going for us was that, for some reason, it rained every 4th of July that we lived there. Not all day, just in the morning but enough to soak all of the ground and the roofs. As a result, the fireworks never really caused any fires. Ah...good times.
Anyway, today I'm off to Long Beach to play music. Then, hopefully I'll get home early enough that Matthew and I can go watch them from somewhere. If not, it isn't a big loss. None of the shows can really compete with "Remember" anyway.
Have a happy and safe 4th, everyone!!!!