Does anybody remember a little firework that they used to sell
before WWII? Not many Rinkies that old. It was called a "torpedo" and was about the size of a
regular marshmellow, but black. When you crushed it, there was a
loud explosion, and at night, a ball of fire. I think they outlawed
them because people mistook them for candy and blew up their mouth.
I remember putting them on the highway and waiting until a car came
along and ran over them. They almost always stopped to check for a
blown out tire. I was about 7 or 8 at the time and I thought that was
really funny.

In those days, tires were made of natural rubber and blow outs were
common. I can remember waiting 15 or 20 minutes for a car to come by
and sometimes they missed the torpedo. Traffic was really light back
then. Must have been great for the people who had scooters.(Oops. Rambled off subject.)

The railroads had a more powerful version of the torpedo that they
placed on the railroad track as a signal device. You didn't have any
trouble hearing them above the sound of a steam locomotive.

The closest thing to them now is a "snappin' pop" which is real
little and puny and not near as much fun. I never could understand
what made them go off like that. Even black powder isn't that
sensitive.
Howard