Roz Chast’s June 19 magazine cover is explosive! She imagines shopping for novelty fireworks in a store of her own wild imagination:
“The New Yorker” cover, June 17, 2023 Roz Chast, cartoonist
- Friendship Ender
- Lawsuit
- Huge Rent Increase
- Pointless Rage
- Shingles
- Root Canal
- Sense of Doom
- Red Tape
- Guilt Bomb
Fireworks from our backyard, 2021
July 4th celebrations usually involve fireworks, but they also evoke memories of such celebrations in my childhood, often without a blaze of colorful bursts. Even in our Mennonite household, where our religious beliefs included non-resistance to war (commonly called pacifism), we had a toy cap gun with small percussive caps. When fired, the caps simulated a gunshot, emitting a small waft of smoke with a gaseous, sulphuric smell.*
Our small metal gun had no revolving chamber, so the caps were fired one by one.
Paper cap rolls, Alamy.com
I don’t know where our toy gun came from or who bought it, but the use of guns, except for hunting game, was forbidden. My first memoir, Mennonite Daughter re-creates a scene with my mother reacting strongly to my choice at a fabric store in Lancaster:
Usually, my sisters and I were allowed to buy any dress material we wanted, within reason. I knew solid bright red was out of the question and probably purple, too — my favorites. On one shopping spree at Mohr’s Fabrics [Lancaster] when I was thirteen, I spotted a pretty, multi-colored repeat pattern on a black background. I pulled the bolt out of the stack for Mom to admire:
“Look at this!” I chirped, propping the heavy cotton roll on the edge of the display table.
Mom inspected the material with squinty eyes and gasped, “Don’t you see there are guns!”
Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes. “Guns?” I had to peer closer. Yes, you could imagine that those tiny figures on black fabric were shaped like guns.
In principle, guns were forbidden in the Mennonite church. Our household had a little cap gun, which we outfitted with rolls of red ribbon with little black dots of ammunition for the fourth of July, but, otherwise, men in our church family used guns only for hunting deer, pheasants, and other game. Using guns to kill people, even during warfare, was strictly forbidden. (Excerpt from Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl, Chapter 12)
My mother, father and others of the past generation would be aghast at widespread gun violence today. They would find school shootings incomprehensible. In their day, hitting another child on the playground or sticking chewing gum under their desks was considered a punishable offense. I’m glad my parents are not alive to witness the senseless bloodshed that happens regularly in American schools these days. And I’m beyond distraught when the news shouts another incident of carnage. Fortunately, there are ways to channel efforts to address this issue.
Barbara Kingsolver, most recently the author of Pulitzer-prize winning Demon Copperhead, says this about her own expression of social justice: “I think of ‘activism’ as a simple action meant to secure a specific result: for this purpose I go to school board meetings, I vote, I donate money, and occasionally fire off an op-ed piece.”
* . . . previously the tiny powder charge was a simple mixture of potassium perchlorate, sulfur, and antimony sulfide sandwiched between two paper layers that hold in the gases long enough to give a sound report when the cap is struck. (Google search)
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How does your family celebrate the Fourth of July? What are your childhood memories of the holiday?
What other tags could you apply to boxes of fireworks in cartoonist’s Roz Chast’s fireworks display above?
How are you responding to the pervasive gun violence, especially in schools? Have you become an activist?
Birthday Sale – Special Pricing, My Checkered Life!
Special offer during July, my birthday month
Good morning, Marian!
Official fireworks are fine, but I am not a fan of neighbors setting them off in the street or their backyards.
All of the shootings–in schools and elsewhere–are beyond horrible. People from other countries are being told not to visit the US because it’s too dangerous. I vote and donate, too.
Every Fourth, a mall about a mile away treats us to an amazing show–15 minutes of glittering fire-bursts. But, we too are annoyed with neighbors who go a little crazy with their own version starting 3-4 days in advance.
Yay, you are First Commenter again today, Merril! 😀
Happy Independence Day Marian. Personally I’m against fireworks because they terrify land and air creatures. Gun – even the word has a sense of dread about it. The cartoon is very apt.
Thanks for checking in, Susan. I do agree: Fireworks frighten pets; they don’t understand the loud noise at all. And I also agree, “gun” rhymes with “stunned,” my reaction to the misuse of firearms. 😀
Marian, my family celebrated on July 2, since that was the day we could all get together. We ate barbecue and played a board game, since the rain was torrential in my area! We also watched NASCAR on TV, since they were in Chicago (yes with all of the rain happening).
The shootings have been horrible. I am responding in prayer!
The Declaration of Independence was actually signed August 2, 1776, not July 4, so celebrating a different day does not make you an outlaw–haha!
Thanks for letting me know how you family celebrated and your continued prayer for our nation, L. Marie! 😀
Those cap guns were fun–and allowed in our Menno family and sometimes we pounded the roll of “powder” with a hammer. But yes, now fireworks to me are too close to the random and horrible shootings our society seems to accept as just inevitable. When will we wake up?
Happy Day, you were able to post today!
I do remember someone in our family pounded the “powder” with a hammer, now that you mention it. Thanks for jogging my memory and for commenting here again, Melodie! 😀
I think your 4th of July is like our Guy Fawkes where people let of fireworks about 2 weeks b4 and 2 weeks after…I too used to play with those same guns thank you for the memory, Marian I can still remember the smell of the caps…we loved our cap guns 🙂
Yes, Guy Fawkes Night is to the rough equivalent of Fourth of July celebrations. For American readers: Guy Fawkes Night “marks the anniversary of the discovery of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I in London in 1605. The eponymous Guy Fawkes and his band of catholic conspirators were discovered and eventually executed and tried for treason.” so says Google.
Thanks, Carol!
It does indeed the celebrations are the same though fireworks galore…
😀
I always loved the smell of the paper caps. My best friend and I would sit on the curb and pop them with rocks. Last night, we watched A Capitol Fourth…a tradition in our home.
We’ve enjoyed PBS’ A Capitol Fourth for many years: entertaining without the hassle of traffic and hordes of people. Thanks, Jill! 😀
Here in Ecuador, we didn’t celebrate the 4th. But we lucked out with a sunny day and blue sky at 15,000ft and managed to reach our goal of seeing volcano Cotopaxi in all its glory. It was a special sight on a special day.
To me fireworks mean distress by Maya and therefore we hate them. So, one of those boxes on The New Yorker should say “doggy hell”!
The gun violence in the US is incomprehensible by citizens of most nations. I just finished reading Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming.” Her husband tried long and hard to make the rules for buying assault machinery tighter, to no avail!! Apparently, some people prefer to support the NRA more than the children of their country.
Liesbet, I imagine I’ll see more about volcano Cotopaxi in all its glory on a future blog post, Roaming About.
Yes, I’ve read Michelle Obama’s Becoming; thanks for jogging my memory about Barack Obama’s crusade against assault rifles. Oh, my! :-/
For me “caps and guns” (sounds like it could be a rock group) was just playing, like girls with dolls. Often after school a neighbor or two would be chasing the “bad guy” down the street with my revolving cap pistol. At one time I had a neat cowboy hat and a holster. As with Melodie and some others I put one or two rolls on a rock or the concrete sidewalk and slam a sledge hammer. BAM! Great sound since we didn’t have money for bigger fireworks.
Yes, and the terrible act of putting chewing or bubble gum under a desk! Lord, help this nation and those who want to destroy it with inhumane actions.That’s not what our fore-fathers and Independence Day brave ones gave their lives and careers for.
“Caps and guns” reminds me of “Guns and Roses,” a rock group one of our children listened to as a teen. I don’t think we approved. Thanks, dear, for sharing your memory here. 😀
Hi Marian – I love Roz Chast and didn’t see that she did a recent New Yorker cover. Thanks for sharing that. Gun violence is so disturbing. It’s randomness is frightening. We prepare for it at the library and it’s very sobering. I like that quote about activism from Barbara Kingsolver – I recently saw it on her website when I read Demon Copperhead.
Yes, I imagine libraries have protocols for dealing with craziness, including gunfire. Our library is such a benign place, it’s hard to imagine gunslingers erupting the silence, but that’s the world we live in now. Thanks for weighing in today, Barbara! 😀
Thank you for the memories, Marian. When I was a kid, our extended family held our July 4th picnics on a relative’s small farm in the hills. I can still smell the fried chicken in the picnic basket sitting on the back seat of our car between my brother and me. Once there, the watermelon was kept cool in the little creek until dessert time. Afterwards, the men would play baseball in the cow pasture and us kids would wade in the creek, trying not to get our toes nibbled by crawdads.
Yes, my brother had a cap gun, and I too can remember the sulfur smell. My dad had a shot gun, but never hunted. My only memory of him using it was shooting at a woodpecker attacking our garage. As for today, I contribute to political candidates who work for gun control, I vote, and I pray.
We share a lot of similarities in summer celebrations. You mentioned the scent of fried chicken. As a writer, you know that inhaling certain scents connects with memory without the interference of the analytical part of the brain. The same is probably true for the touches you mention.
Thank you for sparking some fond memories, Linda! 😀
My husband and I haven’t celebrated the Fourth of July since our daughter left home. Fireworks are legal in the Live Free and Die state, and our neighbors love to set them off at the least provocation to play counterpoint to the neighbor who loves to shoot off his guns. I pretty much respond to gun violence with impotent rage and voting.
“Impotent rage” would describe my stance on guns and gun control. I, too, vote.
Readers, in case you are wondering, Liz lives in New Hampshire, the “Live Free or Die” state, probably the most memorable state motto. Thanks for adding to the conversation, Liz! 😀
You’re welcome, Marian. I wish I could be more sanguine about the current situation, but as long as the gun lobby controls the legislative and judicial branches of government, nothing will change.
Liz, you are telling the truth, sadly.
Roz Chast is brillianr and you wrote a wise blog about this American celebration. I avoided writing about it since I’m not a fan of fireworks or anything having to do with loud bangs and guns. I remember going to a big fireworks display at my university when I was in my early 20s. I didn’t like anything about it and would find it impossible now because of hearing problems.
It breaks my heart to know children go to schools and worry about gun violence. It reminds me of crawling under the desk at school as a rehearsal for nuclear war–as though that would save us! I can only imagine living in the violent world so many face each day. We’ve been living many years in a world on the edge of violence and it only seems to get worse. And yet there are many kind people (like you) helping us remember the sweet and generous side of being human. Thanks for writing about what I couldn’t face.
Yes, I remember crawling under my desk with a lid under which my books were stored and a seat that hinged “up.” The scariest thing was the eerie sound of the alarm. Danger seemed distant to me then. Now it feels random and lurking at every corner.
As the world becomes darker, our lights must shine brighter. In the end, love wins. It must.
Thanks for sharing your heart here, Elaine. 😀
We didn’t know anything about Canada Day celebrations (July 1 in Canada) when we first arrived. A bunch of bachelor brothers lived one house over from us and always celebrated with a big display of fireworks. Did they ever have a thrilled audience that day and every Canada day after that! We lined up at the edge of our yard and couldn’t wait for the show! Each year seemed just a little better than the last!
In challenging days, it’s good to recall “fun” times. I guess the bachelor brothers spent more money on fireworks each year since the displays got bigger. They had a captive audience, and an appreciative one.
Hugs to you, Elfrieda! (((( )))
I may have been impressed with fireworks when I was a young boy, but that went away a long time ago. Our dog, like many, is ultra sensitive to loud noises. I hate to see the look of fear in her eyes as she’s shaking. She wore her thunder shirt and we gave her a low dose of tranquilizers last night. Then we hung out in the bathroom for about three hours with the fan on to block out some of the noise. On top of that, we’ve had widespread fires in California for quite a few years. I also wonder what the effect is on those with PTSD.
Pete, you paint a realistic picture of the effect of fireworks on PTSD sufferers and on pets. I don’t remember our dog Me-Too being sensitive to fireworks, but we had her so long ago. You are a good doggy-daddy, that’s for sure. Thanks for weighing in here.
Hi,
I’m not a friend of all the shooting that goes on in the USA during the July 4th holiday. So I don’t don’t attend any kind of fireworks.
Moving to another thought, I didn’t know that the Mennonites were Pacifists. That’s interesting.
Thanks for the sale on your book. Does the sale also apply to books and eBooks sold in Germany?
Shalom shalom
Pat, I’m glad you learn something new when you read a post here.
I believe the sale applies to books sold anywhere. I deliberately used a universal link, so that readers in other countries can take advantage of the special price. It’s a good time to purchase! 😀
Hi Marian, the gun violence and mass shootings you have in America are appalling. I just can’t understand how you have got to this position or why this is happening. A terrible worry for parents as these shooting are so random. I was reading a book about Quakers in the UK and thinking that the Mennonite religion is similar with regards to non-violence.
Yes, the statistics on gun violence are shameful. When we first traveled internationally, hosts told us that we were more likely to be robbed than to be harmed with a gun. The law of kindness still applies to most people in this country with actions I see around me every day.
Thanks for commenting here, Robbie, as I know you are still enjoying vacation. 😀
Hi, Marian,
Just want you to know, I went to Amazon Germany, and your special price is being offered there too.
I picked up my copy, and look forward to reading it.
All the best.
Shalom shalom
Great! That was my intent: I wanted to make my books available to readers world-wide–you in Germany and my readers in Ireland, Spain, South Africa, and other places.
You are kind to let me know. The universal LINK works!! 😀
Marian, I posted some reviews today and your first book is included. Just finished it yesterday and loved it.
https://writersite.org/2023/07/10/how-about-some-more-book-suggestions/
Thanks for the link. It’s late Monday, but I will scrutinize this tomorrow. You are kind to care, Luanne!
Luanne, You put a red bow on my rather nondescript day with a 5* review of Mennonite Daughter. After a book has been out awhile (2019), a book review is a surprise, especially a rave review like this one. Huge thanks, so grateful!
NICE!!!!!
;-D
Marian — Len and I put lawn chairs in the driveway and watched the city-sanctioned fireworks set off at Boise State University, about a mile from us, as the crow flies.
I’m not a fan of fireworks shot off by individuals without permits:
I wonder how many firefighters were called upon to put out a blaze?
I wonder how many people ended up in the emergency room?
And what about pets who went into panic, especially if they weren’t wearing thunder coats. Thanks for your observations, Laurie! 😀
As a child, I loved the 4th of July. I just wore shorts and usually a red shirt, and I either watched our small town’s parade (it was AWESOME) or I was IN the parade. Once I even had to sit on the top of a convertible and wave like a princess (I was Miss Kiwanis – yup…). And from the age of 5-25 I enjoyed our hometown fireworks, set over a large lake and the participants were all families. These days – no thanks. With the gun violence in our country, any bang is scary to me. Plus, I think of the war in Ukraine and how the citizens must see ‘fireworks’ as bombs rain down on them. Not to be a downer, but fireworks aren’t what they used to be, in my mind.
I agree with you, “fireworks aren’t what they used to be, in my mind” either. Gun violence and the war in Ukraine have tainted my view of fireworks as well.
We lived in a simpler day with hometown parades and “homemade” fireworks displays. I can easily see you as a Princess in the Parade, Pam! Thanks for bringing us up to speed here. 😀
Haha. No princess was I. And those long white gloves in July – I sweated like a grumpy ole giant in a white dress. 🙂
Probably so, but I believe Neville thinks you are a Princess, maybe even a QUEEN!
How special to partner with a grandson for creative work, collaborate on a book no less.
I’m beyond impressed! 😀
Oh man, I haven’t thought about cap guns in decades. After they went off the smoky aroma was distinct. Thanks for the flashback to childhood fun.
Thinking of childhood fun is a great way to begin the weekend: Finally, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, I’d have you know, Ally! 😀
I have always been opposed to guns and killing (of people and animals). My brothers had those cap guns too. I disliked them as well. (the guns not my brothers) Guns of any kind would never be allowed in my house. I do enjoy a good fireworks display though and we have some awesome ones here in Spain, where they celebrate everything. I’m reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead right now. It’s very good.
I think of colorful festivity in the Spanish culture, and you verify that here, Darlene! Thanks too for letting us know your current read. Yes, Barbara Kingsolver’s book has gotten a lot of great reviews. 😀
For good reason, it is so well written and draws you in.