The Wanganui Herald (5 November, 1869) stated: "We are glad to find that this anniversary is not likely to become a Colonial institution, and that the peculiar form of loyalty which exists in crackers loses its zest and fervour by being transplanted."
(For the benefit of the Herald's "many aboriginal readers", a brief explanatory note was given).
Meanwhile, the Chronicle labelled the celebration "senseless" and hoped it would soon become a thing of the past.
There were numerous accounts of the dangers of fireworks in the hands of larrikins. A horse and rider were injured when crackers were thrown during a parade, a boy lost the sight in one eye when struck by an errant rocket and a hotel housemaid had a narrow escape when a "bunger" exploded in her face.
"It is high time such wicked, wanton pranks were stamped out and that the lives of women and children should not be at the mercy of hoodlums who think it a 'lark' to throw a lighted firework in the faces of passers-by," railed the Herald, while the Chronicle called for "legitimate pyrotechnic displays under proper control", along with the exercise of common sense and prosecution of offenders.
In 1886 the Grand Orange Lodge in Auckland requested that Protestant ministers preach thanksgiving sermons in memory of deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot but the Church of England bishop, reminding the lodge of its reverence for Holy Scripture, pointed out that stirring up feelings of resentment among New Zealand Catholics, (who probably abhorred Fawkes' actions as much as lodge members themselves), was not the best way to foster tolerance among Christians, (although that did not stop Orange Lodge "Gunpowder Plot" marches for years to come).
The Chronicle, editorialising over yet another recently-celebrated "relic of barbarism" stated: "It is quite possible that the majority of Catholics have too much good sense to be insulted by the letting off of bungers and crackers," (supplies of which could be obtained locally from Wong Chong, 153 Victoria Avenue).
The Chronicle also claimed that Fawkes would, "squirm in his grave were it possible for him to see the hideous representations of his historical 'phiz', from which Wanganui juveniles perpetrate on the 5th of November. A more or less ugly mask clapped on to the top of a hurriedly stuffed sugar bag, a pair of dangling ill-formed legs and equally clumsy arms, and Guy Fawkes is himself again! Time was when boys knew how to build a decent dummy, and when they took the time to learn the lines and tune of the popular ditty."
(Thankfully, limited column space spares me the shame of relating my own boyhood attempts at "Guying", while seriously mangling the aforementioned ditty and extorting pennies and ha'pennies from sleepy-eyed Koromiko Road residents).
During the First World War, the emphasis of Guy Fawkes changed. Instead of earning money for fireworks, children began collecting for the Belgian Relief Fund, with the results of their efforts published in the local "blab-sheets".
One youngster, Jack Allpress, devoted his proceeds to the purchase of "smokes" for soldiers on active duty.
Imagine his delight when he received a letter from the front, thanking him for the "big parcel of tobacco and cigarettes you so kindly sent. All of us think you were a perfect little brick to spend your 'Guy money' on us."
And for 1915 celebrations, "a guy with a flattering likeness to Kaiser Wilhelm was burned with enthusiasm, accompanied by a devout wish that the original would some day have a similar, but possibly more torrid experience."
Unpopular figures have been burned in effigy with equal enthusiasm down through the ages so instead of an outright Guy Fawkes ban, perhaps we should follow the splendid example of our forebears by simply redirecting the focus of our attention to whomsoever most deserves our disapprobation at any given time.
*Murray Crawford is a Whanganui author with an interest in local history
