Crackers

A firecracker (also known as a cracker, noise maker, banger or bunger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing, to contain the explosive compound. Firecrackers, along with fireworks originated in China. Firecrackers are commonly used in celebration of holidays or festivals, such as Shab-e-Barat In Pakistan, Halloween, Independence Day in the United States of America, Diwali in India, Hari Raya in Malaysia, and especially the celebration of Chinese New Year by Chinese communities around the world and Spanish Fallas. Firecrackers were also used by the Vietnamese during their Tết festival especially at midnight Giao Thừa (New Year's Eve).

In Singapore, a partial ban on firecrackers was imposed in March 1970 after a fire killed six people and injured 68. This was extended to a total ban in August 1972, after an explosion that killed two people and an attack on two police officers attempting to stop a group from letting off firecrackers in February 1972. In Malaysia, playing with firecrackers is now illegal as stated from Malaysian Explosive Act which was revised in 1991 as a result of the increasing injuries among children (especially Malay) during Hari Raya festive season. Ironically, the injury cases caused by playing firecrackers continue to increase every year since Malay children turned to home-made firecrackers such as bamboo cannons as alternatives to commercial fireworks.

Once flash powder, which produces a significantly sharper and brighter bang, replaced black powder as a firecracker's explosive charge (in approx. 1924) manufacturers began competing to gain the purchasing loyalty of the consuming public (i.e., mainly boys 8-16 years of age). Literally thousands of brands were created during the flash light cracker's heyday period from the 1920s through the early 1970s. Only a small percentage of brands lasted more than a year or two. Nowadays, collectors actively seek out examples of the various labels which contained the brand name and image associated with that brand.

The final packaging operation involved applying a branded pack label on each and every pack and then bundling quantities of finished packs into larger wholesale lots called "bricks" which contained an average of 80 packs each (varying according to the size of the packs being bundled. For example, packs of 32 crackers might only have 40 packs to the brick, compared to packs of 16 or 20 which would have 80 packs to the brick.