These oddball fireworks spotted in KC stands are a blast before they’re even blasted

Inside Look is a Star series that takes our readers behind the scenes of some of the most well-known and not-so-well-known places and events in Kansas City. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at InsideLook@kcstar.com.

Citizens of the Kansas City metro are all set to celebrate their independence by setting things on fire and blasting things to bits.

The idea that Americans celebrate Independence Day by setting off fireworks to recreate the “bombs bursting in air” scenes of the Revolutionary War isn’t quite the whole reason we light up the sky with explosives according to reference site Brittanica.com .

The online site sourced from the Encylopedia Brittanica, started in Great Britain of all places, says the practice goes back to founding father John Adams’ suggestion that the day the United States declared its independence be celebrated with games and illuminations, the name for fireworks displays at the time. Celebrating major events with fireworks was already an established practice when England still ruled the colonies according to Brittanica.

Blasts from fireworks before the 1830s lacked the variety of colors we enjoy now according to the Smithsonian Science Education Center . Modern “illuminations” are now packed with blasts high in the sky glowing with near neon colors in precision shapes. Those types of fireworks are usually only accessible to people with special permits for setting off the powerful explosives.

What kind of fireworks can the average Kansas Citian buy at their local firework stand?

The Yankees who celebrated the first Independence Day in 1777 may be jealous or maybe even outright confused by some of the fireworks of today.

The Star checked out several stands in the metro area and found plenty of the usual standards. Shelves are filled with mortars, fountains, firecrackers, smoke bombs, snakes and of course, sparklers. But for as much as us patriots like to see things explode, a closer look at what’s on the shelves of the local fireworks stands can leave someone with the impression that the blast people get out of their fireworks is not the actual fireworks blast.

For many of today’s fireworks it’s all about the packaging. What do Minions from the popular series of “ Despicable Me ” movies have to do with America’s Independence Day? Who knows, but they can be found in fireworks form in local stands along with something called Doggie Doo Doo, a cardboard dog which emits a shower of sparks from exactly where you would expect.

For Kansas City Chiefs fans there is a firework called Kingdom that shoots out 16 red and gold flaming balls. The label on the mostly red package has gold lettering covering the image of a red-helmeted football player. The packaging all points toward the Chiefs without a sign of the team’s arrowhead logo.

An inflatable Uncle Sam stands outside of World Class Fireworks on Rainbow Boulevard in Kansas City, Kansas. A sign beckons customers to shop inside their air conditioned building where you can find something close to Uncle Sam again but not as a bag of hot air pitching plastic smoke grenades and sidewalk snakes. In fireworks form this Uncle Sam is shaped like a carryout cup of coffee and is part of a packaged collection of three other coffee cup-like fireworks called Pyro Blends. Each piece has its unique name—Banguccino, Explosso and Boomcha. They are all fountains that emit sparks in a variety of colors according to the packaging. The coffee cup, uh, firework decorated with a face and a red, white and blue necktie is called Americano .

Take a look at more of the odd fireworks we found on our trip to the local stands.

Sign Up for KC's Morning Rush