Chinese Lanterns

Chinese Lanterns have certainly been a product that has had no difficulty in getting in the news. From a fear that animals would eat the wire that some of them contained to setting fire to businesses. They are however a product that people love to use to celebrate events. From birthdays to weddings as well as at times of the year such as new year's eve.

So why is there all the trouble and bad press about them?

 Government guidelines state that the lantern should contain no metal, it should be made from flame retardant paper and should include a fully assembled non-drip high quality fuel cell. All of our lanterns are of the highest quality and comply with all of the above requirements. Unfortunately not all Chinese Lanterns are of the same high quality and standard as the ones we sell. As John Ruskin said 'There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper'. Certainly that seems to be the way with Chinese Lanterns. It is easy to find them for sale on the internet at what can appear initially to be bargain prices and we have had customers who have bought 'cheap' Chinese Lanterns off the internet tell us how poor performing they were.

So beware when buying Chinese Lanterns. Make sure that the ones you are buying meet the governments guidelines and that you are buying from a reputable supplier.

4th July Independence day

As a UK based company you may at first sight think that the 4th July firework celebrations is something we don't involved in. However we have several companies in our area that have US personnel working for them and whilst here want to celebrate Independence Day. We also supply many fireworks out across the country for 4th July, particularly to London. We have large rockets and single ignition fireworks that are very popular for short spectacular displays but we also sell, mainly to local customers, small boxed selection packs suitable for use in a small back garden.

We've included in this blog a little information about fireworks used in America for the 4th July;

Infographic by Ghergich & Co.

The joy of fireworks

When you work in an industry it can be difficult at times to see the benefits. Those involved in the firework industry know how intense it can be at the mains sales periods and it can seem at times that you are just moving one heavy box from one place to another. Most of the firework boxes weigh around 15 kilo and some can weigh 25 kilo. when they are packed in to their shipping containers in China they are not put on pallets and hence when they arrive in the UK they all have to be unloaded individually by hand. The joy of working in the firework industry hence wears a little thin when you have a 40ft lorry load to unload and speaking from personal experience I have had to go and see a physiotherapist after a busy period just so that I can continue helping with the moving of the cartons.

It was at a visit to my physio that I was reminded about what a great industry it is to work in. Whilst lying on the treatment couch the physio asked 'and what do you do?', 'I sell fireworks' I replied, 'wow that must be so exciting' was the response. And to be honest it is exciting but not in a way that you may think. Many of the things we have to buy are a necessity and hence not very exciting things to buy. When was the last time you got excited about filling your car up with petrol?, see what I mean. Fireworks on the other hand are an exciting purchase. They are used to celebrate events and choosing the fireworks is all part of the excitement. On returning back to our store after my visit to the physio we had some customers purchasing fireworks for a wedding. The look on their faces makes all the moving of heavy boxes worthwhile, the anticipation when buying them and then the pleasure of seeing them when they go off. There can't be many better things to sell.

Of course you need the best fireworks for your event and that's where we come in to the equation. Over 40 years of moving heavy boxes, testing fireworks on cold snowy nights, standing in the rain watching one green fountain after another, sourcing fireworks from only the best manufacturers when there are hundreds to choose from, means that you get the the most exciting fireworks available.

Firing fireworks simultaneously

Here is a recent video of one of our test firing sessions. As part of our on-going quality controil we frequently test fireworks to ensure that the quality control has been maintained by the manufacturer. The fireworks will have been tested in China prior to shipment to the UK but we find it does no harm at all to check that the products perform as we expect them to. 

We recently batch tested some of our Maximum Firepower fireworks. We had had 10% of the stock tested in China but still wanted to do our own testing under the conditions that our customers would be firing them under. We randomly pulled 5 from stock as we also wanted a new video for our web site. However we did let the last two off together to give you an idea of how much more spectaular fireworks can be if you fire two simultaneously. No special equipment was used to light the fireworks just the normal portfire firework lighters. The fireworks were placed just a few metres apart behind one another. It was just a  simple case of lighting one and then moving quickly to the second one to light that. The fuse that is fitted to our fireworks has a burn time of between 5 and 15 seconds. We try to aim for a burn time of around 10 seconds so that you have plenty of time to move away to a safe distance. As fireworks are all hand made there can be variations in the firing time of the same firework. It is not therefore worth panicking to try and light two identical fireworks at exactly the same moment. As long as you are within a couple of seconds, as in this case you've just as much chance of them ending together.

Fireworks for St. George's Day 23rd April 2013

The medieval legend of St George and the dragon is over a thousand years old. At a spring in Libya the local people offered sheep to a dragon that had its nest nearby, in order to draw water. When there were no more sheep to offer the dragon the local people drew lots as to who would be offered to the dragon instead. The Princess Cleolinda’s name was drawn and despite protest from the King she was duly put before the dragon. Right at that moment St George was riding by. He got down from his horse, killed the dragon and saved the princess.

George's Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in AD 303. Whilst other countries enthusiastically celebrate St George’s Day, the celebrations in England (where he is the patron Saint) had declined by the end of the 18th century and it is only in recent years that it has started to regain its original popularity. In the early 15th century St George’s day in England was celebrated as a national holiday and feast comparable to Christmas, so it still has some way to go.

All of this talk of celebration brings us on to the subject of fireworks. National events in England in recent years, such as the 2011Royal Wedding and the 2012 Diamond Jubilee have encouraged communities to get together and hold community parties and fireworks have quickly become a popular form of entertainment to end the events with.

Whilst large civic organisations can afford large scale professional displays, smaller communities have a more restricted budget to work to. The recent advance in firework design though, enable smaller groups or organisations to put on a professional looking display for a fraction of the cost. Commonly know as the ‘single ignition box’, ‘display in a box’ or a ‘single fuse firework’, this style of firework has made it easy to fire a continuous aerial firework display lasting up to 2 minutes by lighting just one fuse. Several of this type of firework can easily be lit one after each other to provide a display lasting 10 minutes and there is no longer a need to run around with a lighter to light them as there are now simple to use remote control firing systems that cost just a few pounds.

So ‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George’ and lets celebrate our patron saint and have some fun.

Our Spring Sale is up and running. It will end on 30th May so take advantage of our bargain prices whilst available. If you buy now but do not want to take delivery or collect your fireworks until later in the year, that is not a problem as we will store your order free of charge until required.

So what has been happening at Jordans Fireworks recently. Well we have been doing some testing of fireworks, the most spectacular being two Maximum Firepowers let off together (video to follow shortly). We are still waiting for one of our major suppliers to confirm their 2013 range so we have not yet finalized our range for the coming Bonfire Night season yet but hope to shortly.

Also, here is a video of some of our old dummy fireworks, which are basically just empty cardboard tubes being put to great effect in the EU.

All ready for our 2013 Spring Firework Sale.
We have been working hard for the last few weeks getting everything ready for our annual Spring sale. We have picked up some fantastic bargains from importers that had had orders cancelled. The van has been on some interesting trips, including a couple of journeys to pick up orders from RAF Alconbury. This is a fascinating site and even more dramatic on a foggy day when huge bomb proof shelters appear out of the mist. Visit the bunker tours site for more pictures such as this;

We have printed off the order forms and have got the email ready to send out. The printers will be delivering the flyers next week so we will be spending several days stuffing envelopes ready to post.

Existing customers and people who have asked to receive details will be in the first wave of notifications, so if you would like to receive details please contact us.

In this year's sale will a barrage pack that I would encourage everyone to buy as it is such fantastic value and contains such good fireworks, a few single ignitions including a twin pack of the fan effect variety at less than half srp plus some giant rockets. Stock of some of the items is very limited and it is a first come first served basis, but you can buy fireworks now and have us store them for you free of charge until later in the year if you wish.