WHAT A CRACKER OF A NIGHT!

On November 5,1605, as a protest against the policies of King James 1, Captain Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. This became known as the Gunpowder Plot. And from this, Cracker Night was born …

The “Proserpine Guardian” (October 26, 1940), published a plea from the fire brigade that “owing to the extreme dryness of the season, more than ordinary care and supervision is necessary to prevent the spread of fires through the use of crackers and bunger.”

Regulation 82, issued by the Police Department, stated that it was “was an offence to cast, throw or fire any fireworks into any highway, street, thoroughfare, or public place. Max Penalty of £5.

In a 1965 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly, journalist Margaret Sydney, referred to cracker night as “the same old nuisance every year … a nightmare for the fire brigade, a night of horror for many domestic cats and dogs, a worrying time for parents of small children, a blissful exciting time for those children neither too young or too old to be dazzled and delighted.”

Over the years, various shops in Proserpine sold a variety of crackers including penny ‘bungers’, jumping jacks, catherine wheels, starburst, golden rain, tom thumbs, bungers, roman candles and rockets. These stores included Lum Wan, George Tam, George and Thelma Porter at the Newsagency, The Co-op, Fausts Hardware, Ray Baumgarten’s fruit shop and Iris and Archie Campbell’s store (now West End).

Great preparation started weeks ahead. Old boxes, bits of wood, fence posts, old tree branches and scraps of paper were thrown onto a pile to make a bonfire in the backyard or a vacant lot, basically anything not nailed down. Many families set up their own backyard pile with Dad in charge holding matches in one hand and a box of fireworks in the other. The rest of the family stood back in awe and amazement as bright colours lit up the sky making thunderous bangs.

The “Proserpine Guardian” (November 19, 1954) attributed the cost of fireworks as the reason residents began pooling their crackers at the one big bonfire. So, behind the Church of England, a large bonfire was built by the Rector, the Leader and an enthusiastic offsider, and on top was placed a Guy suitably attired and stuffed. Sky rockets provided the best entertainment - some of them were truly magnificent, while others took off with a terrific swish, scaring the daylights out of some, and aiming right towards the crowd. Amazingly, there were no serious casualties however a few dresses were burnt, and quite a few nerves were shattered.

In June 16, 1988 a “Bonfire Night” - or morning - was held at the showgrounds, when the Bicentennial Beacon was due to go up in flames at 4.55a.m. Over 300 people enjoyed a mini-fireworks display courtesy of Mr. Ian Leet, who set off several mighty rockets, together with a monster fountain of coloured light from ground level.

Cracker night was banned in Queensland in 1972 and fireworks were made legal only for licensed public displays. General misuse, injuries, fire risks and pranks were the reasons for the ban. The Northern Territory still has an official cracker night on the 1st July - but only that one day from 6pm.

Today, instead of the excitement and anticipation of Cracker Night, governments and private business spend thousands of dollars on once-a-year displays such as New Year’s Eve – and our own Friday Night Show fireworks display.

For some of us, however, Cracker Night remains a great childhood memory.

Story courtesy Proserpine Historical Society Museum. Photo sourced from “Bright Star Fireworks Australia”.

‍