Back to the Supermarket

In the late afternoon I was on my way home and stopped at a local supermarket to pick up a few items.  My path through the store had me taking the aisle for seasonal items to get from the front to the back.  Beach chairs, big coolers. etc.  Fireworks.  Did I see that right?  Went back and looked again, and the cardboard display said Fireworks, with big colorful letters, and warnings not to smoke.  Well I agree that it's probably best not to smoke by displays of fireworks, but I don't think anyone is allowed to smoke anywhere in a supermarket.  Plus all my life, it has been illegal to sell fireworks in New Jersey.  Even getting things like sparklers and "snakes" was a challenge, and getting small things like regular firecrackers might involve a trip over the state line.  Forget about fireworks.  Many other states had no such restrictions, and I remember one summer in my youth we were in the midwest on the Fourth, and on the block where the cousins lived many had invested in fireworks to shoot off themselves.   I guess the roman candles worked, but the skyrockets were pretty lame, and the big time display at a local stadium was also a letdown.  If this is what having fireworks for retail sale meant, we were probably better off not being able to buy and shoot off any, and just seeing professional displays at our local parks.  And that was life in New Jersey.  So what was going on at the Acme?

Like most people these days, when I have questions I go to the internet.  Sure enough, found a news story that our last governor had signed a law in this last term that made some kinds of home fireworks legal for sale.  Nothing that flew through the air, or made any really loud noises- no sky rockets.  Despite the colorful packaging and evocative names, these items are basically just large sparklers.  I'll collect more information when I am back there tomorrow on my usual Sunday morning shopping trip.

Still, I may have material for another supermarket print.  Sale of such items may be normal in supermarkets in other parts of this country, but it's something I had never seen before around here.  And the elaborate no smoking signs posted all around open up all sorts of possibilities.  I have produced images of fireworks in woodcut form before, so if I can work out an idea, I can do this.  And fireworks season is approaching.  I'll give it a little thought, and if I come up with something good, I may have my next print going soon.