Canada Day fireworks

Canada Day has fireworks. Ottawa marks it with fireworks; Nelson marks it with fireworks; most cities of any size in Canada do. But, why? How did this come about?

No fireworks were used when this picture was taken. In 1909, my family gathered to mark Dominion Day in Rossland. They displayed a four-province Canadian Red Ensign (Canada's flag of the day). In the scene appear my great grandparents, my grandmother and my mother. My grandfather took the picture.

Canada’s national day—it once was called Dominion Day—did not used to be marked with fireworks. No fireworks were used on the day when I was a child; indeed, other aged folk tell me likewise.

I remember my father, RT Fraser (1905-1991), sometime in the 1970s, lamenting the recent practice of using fireworks on July 1^st. His reasoning was simple: Americans have long used fireworks for their National Day because it commemorates their birth in battle. Canada came about through evolution, not revolution; Canadians did not use fireworks to proclaim their birth. Why were we now (1970s) starting to ape an inapplicable American practice?

It seems that some forty years ago, the combative symbolism of fireworks waned and they became transformed into nothing more than a celebratory spectacle.

I would like to know when and why this change took place. I suspect that it all started in 1967 for the Canadian Centennial. Then, within a few years, fireworks began to appear across the country on July 1^st without any sense of inappropriateness. But, this sequence is somewhat speculative.

As to local use—a check in the Nelson Daly News reveals no mention of fireworks here on July 1, 1967. Soon afterwards, J.D. Spurway created a composite print from multiple pictures taken from his home on the North Shore. The picture is undated, but was probably taken circa 1970 (the bridge had been painted orange by this time).

The final two pictures were taken last night during Nelson’s Canada Day celebration. They are single images—I resisted the temptation to make a composite of many pictures as Dick Spurway had done.

Fireworks are certainly fun—and maybe that is all that matters—yet, they are a fairly recent innovation in the marking of Canada’s national day. If any of you have long memories and can shine some light on when and why the transition took place, please comment. Indeed, this posting may need updates as I learn more.

A composite image of fireworks on the Nelson waterfront probably taken circa 1970 by J.D. Spurway from his home on the North Shore. (used courtesy of Touchstones Nelson).

Two pictures of the Nelson’s celebratory fireworks on July 1, 2011 as seen from the south side of the Lake.