BRISK BUSINESS IN SALE OF FIREWORKS IN GISBORNE SHOPS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23091, 2 November 1949, Page 6

BRISK BUSINESS IN SALE OF FIREWORKS IN GISBORNE SHOPS

If the demand for fireworks in Gisborne could be regarded as indicative of the interest being displayed this year, then most shops would probably nave record sales if there were no restrictions on supplies. With the limited quantity of this relic of Guy Fawke’s Day available in a number of shops, young and old did not hesitate to buy, with the result that in a few days supplies in most cases were cleaned out. Fireworks were displayed on the counters of shops as long as two or three weeks ago, and today very few can produce a cracker. In fact, the longest period in which any one shop held supplies—except those firms which held and are holding a few varieties and producing them at intervals—was one week. “Fireworks are still one of those lines that have not recovered after the war,” the manager of a Gisborne shop said today. He had a continual queue of customers yesterday numbering between 40 and 50 lined up at the counter until supplies ran out. Another proprietor commented that he could have done with four times the amount of fireworks allocated to his shop. Most sought after of the firework variety were the crackers, and these were also the hardest to obtain. Manufactured in China, this reason alone accounts for the cracker shortage. Quotas of English fireworks were restricted due to the difficulty in obtaining import licenses in the Dominion.