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Working with fire probably began about half a million years ago when patriarchal cavemen realized that they felt cold and began rubbing pieces of wood together untill the friction caused an ignition.
It is only within the last 200 years or so that fire was correctly interpreted as being a form of energy where the flames are defined as regions of luminous hot gas.
By about the eighth century AD, the Chinese alchemists, amongst others, were preoccupied with discovering the elixir of life. Concoctions were made containing all manner of substances including oils,honey and beeswax, but among the most significant, were the ingredients sulfur and saltpeter.
About 1000 AD the Chinese were using a profellant similar to gunpowder in crude forms of rockets (Flying Fire),together with grenades and even toxic smokes. For example, a recipe in the Wu Ching Tsung Yao dated 1044 describes a mixture,containing sulfur, saltpeter, arsenic salts, lead salts, oils and waxes to give a toxic incendiary that could be launched from a catapult.
More peaceful used of these crude articles appeared in the form of firecrackers' - the first fireworks? One mixture corresponded quite closely to modern gunpowder in that it contained saltpetre, sulfur and willow charcoal. The firecracker was said to consist of a loosely-filled small hole to accept a match or fuse.
Firework manufacture has a long history, but the development of the pyrotechnic art has been remarkably slow. The Chinese may have made fireworks of sorts over a thousand years ago; displays have been fired popularity, now worldwide, seems undiminished. Nevertheless, basically, firework displays have changed little over the centuries, with rockets, shells and roman candles, in various forms, remaining the main display components.
It is probable that first gunpowder was formed when, quite by chance, charcoal, saltpeter and sulphur were brought together. Traditionally, the Chinese are credited with the discovery at a time well before historical records. Certainly the evidence suggests that gunpowder originated in the East.
The Chinese, however, had employed pyrotechnic mixtures long before this date. Ancient manuscripts describe explosive bombs, which were fired from giant catapults, and burst on landing or in the air. Similar missiles were merely dropped on the enemy from fortress walls. Firecrackers were often in early times, just as they are now, to scare away evil spirits from wedding and birth celebrations and from funerals, and they were also much in evidence at various religious festivals. These crackers were often made by packing gunpowder into bamboo cases or rolled paper tube, so laying the foundations of modem firework manufacture. They exploded when thrown on to the fire, hence the origin of the name "firecracker".
In Europe, pyrotechnics for military purposes saw an early peak of achievement in the form of Greek fire. Old manuscripts suggest everal ways of attempting to combat the fire, especially the application of wine, vinegar, sand, and even urine.
Firework displays were seldom seen in England before the end of the sixteenth century. Shakespeare refers to "fireworks" on several occasions in his plays, suggesting that the term was in general usage in England in Tudor times. Other literature of the head often mentions the "green man" whose function was to walk at the head of processions carrying"fire clubs" and scattering"fireworks" (in this case probably meaning sparks ) to clear the way. The origin of this character and his title are a mystery, but we are told that he was usually made up to appear very ugly, and he certainly survived well into the following century.
The earliest record of a firework display in England was in 1572, when a large show was put on at Warwick Castle to mark the visit of Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1690, Peter, the Great of Russia, put on a five-hour display to celebrate the birth of his son.
In the U.S.A., the State Fairs usually boast expensive shows; the spectacular "State Fairs" usually boast expensive shows; the spectacular "Setting the Rhine on Fire" shows are frequent entries in the calendars of Moog and other German manufacturers; the French resorts regularly entertain their visitors with displays; and in Italy and Spain numerous religious festivals have been celebrated with fireworks for centuries.
Considerable opposition has been directed against the sale of fireworks, or even their manufacture, in almost every country where they are made. Certainly in the USA and the European Union, governments have often reacted vigorously, and sometimes with almost hysterical haste, in response to campaigns for greater control. In the United States, different legislation applies in the separate states. Some administrations ban the sales of all types of firework,while others allow only "safe and sane" types, which include flares, candles, fountains, wheels, sparklers, etc., but not those with explosive elements.
Firework manufacture is an art, but for the manufacturing companies it is also a business. As such, it faces the multitude of problems which confront all other businesses in the modern, competitive commercial world. Above all, the work must show a profit, and with rising costs of materials and transport, increasing wage bills, higher insurance premiums, the escalating costs, expenses of various overheads, the expensive safety regulations imposed by the authorities.
Fireworks were introduced to the United States by immigrants.
In the nineteenth century, many American manufacturers were branches of European companies. The earliest known manufacturer of firework for pleasure in the USA was the Du Pont family near Wilmington, Delaware in 1809. The business thrived until the 1940s and continued to supply powder for the industry until the 1970s.
China is usually considered the birthplace of black powder and firework making. Hundreds of factories supplied material for displays celebrating religious festival and public events, marriages and unerals. Recent political changes in China have meant that many manufacturers are now allowed to invest private capital and trade unhindered across the world. Certainly, China leads the world in the volume of production and export. A large number of small companies, especially in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi and Hebei Provinces, feed the large exporters and display companies, which operate under such group titles as Temple of Heaven of Beijing or Red Lantern, and brand names like Sunny, Vulcan, An Ping and Skysong.
A large percentage of the fireworks produced in Japan used to be exported, but this is no longer the case; the bulk of them are used internally. This is because they require so much expensive hand labor that the finished products are very costly.
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