I read an article on the BBC website about the Dutch parliament voting to ban the purchase and use of fireworks. After the ban was passed, a separate motion postponed the ban until after New Year’s Eve. In the debate, proponents of the ban cited statistics about injuries and damage from fireworks use. Last New Year’s Eve, two people were killed, and 1,162 people were treated in emergency rooms, primarily for burns and eye injuries. Opponents of the ban, who succeeded in securing its delay, cited potentially significant compensation claims from fireworks suppliers.

Fireworks are big business. According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, consumer fireworks reached $2.3 billion in 2022, with display fireworks adding another $400 million. Fireworks have been popular in the US since the arrival of European settlers. Fireworks were part of the first Independence Day, and that tradition continues. Here on the border, we get double fireworks displays because they are popular in Canada. Canada Day is Jul 1, and we can see the fireworks from White Rock, British Columbia, across Semiahmoo Bay. In turn, Canadians can see the fireworks at Blaine on July 4.

Over the years, I have been present at some large fireworks displays. When we lived in Chicago, our apartment was across the street, a half block from Rockefeller Chapel, where large fireworks displays were set off timed to music each year. I took a photography class and purchased a secondhand camera in those years. Photographing the fireworks over the chapel allowed me to practice my photography skills. Since then, I have enjoyed using my camera to capture images. I have collected a lot of pictures of fireworks.

In 1978, we were in Toulouse, France, on July 14, French National Day and Bastille Day. The Toulouse display is not the largest in France; the fireworks show at the Eiffel Tower is the nation’s most spectacular event each year. However, the Toulouse display was pretty impressive. Fired over the Garonne River so that the bursts were reflected in the water and set to music, we were impressed with the show.

One year, we were in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 4 and could watch multiple fireworks displays from our hotel window.

However, the most extensive displays I have ever witnessed were the shows we watched at Mount Rushmore. Between 1998 and 2009, huge displays were staged at the monument. In some years, the price exceeded a million dollars. That’s a lot of cash to burn through for a half-hour display. The fireworks were set to music that was played over the sound system. In addition to enjoying the display, we enjoyed everyone who gathered. We’d arrive early with a picnic supper and find a place to put our lawn chairs. We visited with friends and enjoyed watching the crowd. Even with careful parking of our car planned to speed our exit, traffic would keep us out for hours after the end of the display.

In 2010, the National Park Service stopped fireworks displays at Mount Rushmore, citing wildfires sparked by the pyrotechnics. Contamination of drinking water around the monument was also cited as a reason to suspend the displays. However, on July 3, 2020, a fireworks display was held at Mount Rushmore. The event was a campaign event for President Donald J. Trump and was hosted by South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. It was the year that we retired, and we were not in South Dakota then, but we wouldn’t have attended anyway. Our political leanings were toward President Biden, who defeated Trump in that year’s election. In addition, the event was held at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, six months before the vaccine became available. The display was a super spreader event. The US set a record of nearly 58,000 cases that day. It is impossible to estimate how many contracted COVID at the fireworks display, but 7,500 people gathered without social distancing had ripple effects, spreading the virus far beyond the initial event. That event also topped the charts for expense. A government accountability report indicates the cost of $4 million in federal funds and an additional $1.1 million in South Dakota state funds.

Many historians agree that fireworks originated in China. Bamboo stalks, when burned in a fire, will sometimes explode because air trapped in pockets in the plants expands as it heats up, causing the bamboo to split and release the compressed air suddenly. Centuries before Jesus, someone mixed potassium nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal to produce gunpowder. Pouring gunpowder into bamboo stalks made bigger explosions. Later, paper tubes were substituted for bamboo stalks—the use of fireworks spread from China. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, fireworks were being produced in Italy, and using them to illuminate castles for celebrations was common across Europe.

In modern times, most fireworks, both for consumer and public displays, are manufactured in China. Most fireworks sold in the US are imported from China. With a 104% tariff against imports from China set to go into effect today, fireworks prices are set to double. There are several possible results from this part of the complex tariff program. One possibility is that Americans, including the federal government, will spend twice as much on fireworks displays this year. Another possibility is that fireworks displays will be half the size of previous years. Another possibility is that the tariffs will end, or an exception will be made for fireworks before importing pyrotechnics for the July 4 celebrations. A combination of all of the above will probably occur.

Around 10,000 people are injured by fireworks each year, with burns and eye injuries being the most common. Serious injuries resulting in amputations also result. In 2023, eight US citizens died from fireworks injuries. I could not find a cost estimate for fireworks injuries, but it is in the millions of dollars each year. With the Department of Government Efficiency reducing funds for medical research and support for Medicare and Medicaid combined with high tariffs, the US might be money ahead to follow the Dutch. I don’t expect that to happen, however. After all, the current president loves fireworks.