And a happy Independence Day to you all!

I'm reading Dandelion Wine at present, as are many others, I suppose. I've always found that short passage in the introduction to be very touching, the one where Ray describes the conclusion of the fourth of July festivities, with his grandfather letting go of the fire balloon. And I was curious, has anyone here ever had one of these balloons themselves?

I imagine that they could probably be purchased in any five and dime at one time, but I've never seen one myself, and so am not quite sure how to imagine it--how large were they, for example? I've only ever even heard of these in one other story; I can't remember where, but think it was something written by Jack Finney (who, growing up in Galesburg, possibly had a childhood very similar to Bradbury's).

It's a pity that you can't get these paper balloons anymore, to the best of my knowledge. But I suppose they must have been a terrible fire hazard--a bit of flame floating around in the sky, waiting to descend who knows where....

Here's something to give people ideas:
http://www.explorium.org/Tissue_Balloons/How%20to%20make%20a%20fire%20balloon.htm

(Not responsible for consequences of following these instructions!)

I wonder, though, why no Fourth of July story appears in "Dandelion Wine," or, to my knowledge, any of Ray's published works?

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 07-14-2003).]

Thanks so much for the information, Dandelion! You know, it never even occurred to me to look for instructions on how to make one of these....

Obviously this is something I won't be doing today--don't have the supplies at hand--but I have saved the instructions to print out later. I'm still rather hesitant to try one myself; I don't want to start a forest fire or anything. But I was thinking of maybe attaching some fishing line to it, to keep it on a leash, so to speak.

Well, time to go set off some firecrackers and make a lot of noise! Hope everyone has a pleasant day!

J U L Y 4th, 2 0 0 3

Well, this isn't Bradbury stuff, but here's some July 4th 'animated cards'... These are really nice. Hope it works on your own computers::

(click on, or type into finder): http://www.jacquielawson.com/july4.asp

"Raise the Flag" can be seen easily, by clicking on the 'preview' icon...
...but the other one you have to fiddle with., by circumventing tactics. Well, at least, there is one card to view....

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 07-04-2003).]

To see the "sea" card that Nard mentioned above, click on: http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1501074146

I'm not sure how long this will be on-line, but it is a pretty cool card!

The dangers of fire balloons:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-e...-birmingham-23123549

This massive blaze is national news in the UK... and is 7 miles from where I live.

I should think they would be dangerous!

To answer my own question from ten years ago, "All on a Summer's Night" is a fourth of July story which captures the atmosphere well but I found flawed.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
The dangers of fire balloons:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-e...-birmingham-23123549

This massive blaze is national news in the UK... and is 7 miles from where I live.

I like that the British say "taken to hospital".

quote:

Originally posted by Doug Spaulding:
I like that the British say "taken to hospital".

Or "in hospital"--never "in the hospital."

Depends on context!


"Is Jane well?"
"No, she's in hospital at the moment"


"Where did you find the dead mouse?"
"I found it in the hospital."


"John's been taken to hospital."


"Where are you taking that basket of fruit?"
"I'm taking it to the hospital."


We sure have a way with words!

quote:

"John's been taken to hospital."

Our Canadian friends just across the near border say this.

As a construction, it's not really so odd. As well as "going to hospital" we talk about "going to school" and "going to college"... which I think most North Americans would say, too.

"Taken to hospital" sounds good to me. Doesn't everybody say that?

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
"Taken to hospital" sounds good to me. Doesn't everybody say that?

In America it's always "to the hospital," "in the hospital." Not sure about Canada or whether it's different in different regions.

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
"Taken to hospital" sounds good to me. Doesn't everybody say that?

Brits and South Africans only, apparently. (But I would guess Australians and New Zealanders as well.)