Neighbours found the Williams family and took them into their homes. The airliners, one from Broken Hill and one from Melbourne, had to be diverted to Canberra.

He was a state Labor MP in the 1970s. Invalid postcode. Cracker Night was celebrated on one of two dates throughout Australia: either 24 May in commemoration of Empire Day or on 5 November, honouring the traditional Guy Fawkes Day celebrations that continue to be practiced across Britain every year.

When I was a lad, Cracker Night was the night of Commonwealth Day, and Commonwealth Day was 24 May. Police and firemen answered dozens of calls to bonfires out of control. The night always led to discussions about the plusses and minuses of the event. I mean it wasn’t a whole lot of years previously that prime minister Robert Menzies announced to the nation that “it was his melancholy duty to inform us … that as Great Britain was at war with Germany, Australia was also at war”. On the Harbour ships’ fog sirens sounded continuously. The explosion burnt through the back of his pants and down his legs. The haze hampered viewing at many drive-in theatres. Originally and officially, it was on May 24, Queen Victoria’s birthday, and it has been known by different names. Children heckled firemen who put out one of the biggest bonfires, in Rose Street Darlington. We weren’t too fussed what it was celebrating, but Empire Day then still held credibility. In a 1965 edition of the Australian Women’s Weekly, journalist Margaret Sydney referred to Cracker Night as “the same old nuisance every year … a nightmare for the fire brigade, a night of horror for many domestic cats and dogs, a worrying time for parents of small children and a blissful and exciting time for those children neither too young nor too old to be dazzled and delighted”. May 1959.Credit:John O'Gready, SMH Archives. Darlinghurst police were “flooded” with complaints about youths throwing fireworks into crowds at King’s cross and in Macleay Street.

[3][4], CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, "Cracker Night 2010 on The Comedy Channel", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cracker_Night&oldid=978558964, 2011 Australian television series endings, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 15 September 2020, at 16:54. cracker night still exists but probably it has got a bit harder to organise by having to get a permit and follow the regulations and maybe also because people are unsure of the date. A man was admitted to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, North Sydney, suffering from burns to his eyes. A further plus is of course, like Dark Mofo, it got people outside and talking to each other on a cold night.

Locals build their bonfire in Paddington in Sydney's east, 23 May 1959.

May 1959. Cracker night was a big event in every home and neighbourhood.

They needed to learn to light the crackers safely, to keep clear of the fire, to watch out for each other and especially to keep an eye on the little kids. It became a community event. The new system of course is safer, more responsible, and means accidents and vandalism are less likely to occur but in the interim we may have lost something.

Greg James buys fireworks at David Jones in Sydney on 20 May 1959.Credit:Frank Burke, SMH Archives. Hospitals in the metropolitan area treated more than 70 people for minor burns caused by fireworks during the night.

Taylor apparently dropped a lighted cracker near an open bottle of kerosene.

The Williams family ran from the back of the house, but neighbours thought they might be trapped inside. So Empire celebrations still counted for something.

That night we had things like bonfires …

A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. But there were also plenty of plusses. Fireworks were blamed for a fire that badly damaged a weatherboard house; A boy lost a finger when a home-made fireworks mixture exploded, Hospitals and ambulancemen treated nearly 100 people for burns and hospitals admitted several for more treatment.

James Taylor, 20, of Cronulla, was admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital for treatment for severe burns to his eyes. From “The Sun-Herald” Office in Broadway the lights at Railway Square and on the Harbour Bridge could not be seen. First published in The Sun-Herald, 24th May 1959, A cracker is blamed for a fire which badly damaged this house in Northwood Street, Newtown, on Cracker Night, 23rd May 1959. Credit:Bob Finlayson, The Sun-Herald, Cracker pall closes airport | Bunger starts house blaze | Boy, 13, hurt by blast. We got to know the difference between the crackers, from tom thumbs to double bangers and Catherine wheels to skyrockets. The bonfire may well have been planned for weeks, with kids collecting branches and sticks and piling them up ready for the night. Ian Cole is a former teacher who lives in Hobart.

We always blamed the bodgies for that, as there was a plethora of bodgies (excuse the collective noun) in the Moonah area in the 1950s. By this time the front of the house was a mass of flames, which drove Mr Sterling back as he tried to enter the hall. Bonfires were the order of the night, either in people’s backyards or on empty blocks. “I was extra careful and had the front of the house shut up, but someone must have thrown a cracker through the lattice.

This night was called 'cracker' night or the more proper term was 'Guy Fawkes Night'. His condition last night was satisfactory. It was Empire Day, later Commonwealth Day, also fireworks night, bonfire night and mistakenly Guy Fawkes Night. Territory Day — known affectionately as ‘cracker night’ — is the one day of the year where anyone aged over the age of 18 can legally buy and let off fireworks in the Northern Territory. Local boys get ready to start Cracker Night proceedings, Gore Hill , Sydney. The minuses included the annoyance of the noise to dogs and horses.

When the smoke pall was thickest in the city, large illuminated signs were illegible from several hundred yards away.

Neighbours said there was an explosion and flames sprang up on the front veranda. At times visibility was down to 500 yards as a steady 2mph westerly carried the smoke out to sea.

The bonfire covered most of the road and had burned for almost half an hour when firemen arrived.

As well, people sometimes got burnt from either the fire or from exploding crackers. Children in the area collected wood, old furniture, and old tyres from the beginning of the month for the bonfire. One of their busier periods. Children lit the fire despite protests from residents, who said after wards the heat from it had blistered paint on their fences.

But for kids back in the 1950s and 1960s it was always cracker night. Register, Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout. The gala celebrates the opening of the Sydney Comedy Festival and showcases the best local and international talent performing at the festival that year.

So the Russians in 1957 were proud of the fact they could launch a rocket and put Sputnik into space. For weeks prior to the evening the neighbourhood kids would collect old timber, logs and anything else that would burn and build a large bonfire.

AS kids, cracker night was up there with Christmas. Mr Noel Sterling ran from his nearby home and kicked in the blazing front door. A Weather Bureau spokesman said the haze was likely to late for 10 or 11 hours – as long as the wind would take to carry out the the smoke of the outer suburban bonfires. It also meant that people were participating in the event as distinct from watching, as may occur with New Year’s Eve fireworks, which are for observing rather than being involved with. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

At the height of the cracker night celebrations nearly every message to police cars referred to crackers or bonfires.

The family lost most of their possessions. Greg James buys fireworks at David Jones in Sydney on 20 May 1959. Police called firemen to another bonfire at the corner of Boundary Street and Barcom Avenue Darlinghurst.

Locals build their bonfire in Paddington in Sydney's east, 23 May 1959. Credit:Bob Finlayson, Sun-Herald archive. Parramatta District Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital each reported at least 20 casualties. The house damaged by fire is in Northwood Street, Newtown.

Sure, the 1950s and 1960s were different times.

A cracker is blamed for a fire which badly damaged this house in Northwood Street, Newtown, on Cracker Night, 23rd May 1959. Don't have an account?

Several other airliners had to circle the aerodrome for a time before being allowed to land.

He lost the little fingers from his left hand.

AS kids, cracker night was up there with Christmas. It was Empire Day, later Commonwealth Day, also fireworks night, bonfire night and mistakenly Guy Fawkes Night.

Mr Williams said later: “It was rotten luck that anyone should throw a cracker in the front of the house. Cracker Night is an Australian comedy television gala event sponsored by the Comedy Channel, executive produced by the Comedy Channel programming director Darren Chau, and produced by Elia Eliades, Jorge Menidis and Total Show Productions for the Comedy Channel[1][2] as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival. To join the conversation, please log in.

The explosion blew kerosene into his eyes.

From the Archives: Sydney Cracker Night chaos closes airport.

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