History of fire balloons
The original Fire Balloon, or Sky Lantern, was apparently invented in China, by Chu Ko Liang, who was born around 180 CE. In Tiawan, an ongoing tradition of flying fire balloons has been going on for over two hundred years.
The Mongolfier Brothers also invented the Fire Balloon, in November 1782. It was three feet in diameter, made with silk, and held 35 cubic feet of air. At first they flew it unpowered. Later they suspended the fire in a frame at the bottom of the balloon, thereby inventing the fire balloon. Note: Keyword "balloon" will locate most of the references.
A year later, on November 21, 1783, the Montgolfiers launched the first manned balloon, in Paris. The crowds included Marie Antoinette, the King, and nearly half a million people. Ten days later, on December 1, 1783, Jacques Charles launched the first manned hydrogen balloon, also in Paris. News of the manned balloon flights travelled fast, and astounded the world. .
The first US balloon flight was attempted in 1784 in Philadelphia. The pilot jumped out when the balloon crashed into a wall. The balloon then climbed up, burned up, and dropped its stove through the roof of a nearby theatre. The reference is in a footnote for a letter from John Fitch, steamboat inventor, to Thomas Jefferson, complaining about the balloon craze.
Traditional Paper Fire Balloons or Montgolfiers (In Italian) - (Photographs) - ( 2 ) - ( 3 ) - ( 4 ) have existed almost ever since, as a sort of "folk invention," in many parts of the world, especially during the 19th and early 20 Centuries. Most were built by young people and hobbyists, for festivals and holidays. In the United States they were called Fourth of July Balloons.
Those days are gone. There was always the risk of the balloons catching on fire and the fire plunging to the ground. Nowday any type of fire balloon can be viewed as a potential hazard, and traditional paper fire balloons are no longer very common. Plastic balloons don't generally catch on fire though, or fall. And candle powered balloons tend to blow out.
Paper fire balloons still fly, especially for Festival of Lights Celebrations in the Fall. In the West, they are popular in Italy and in Latin America. In the East, they are popular in Thailand - (2), China, Taiwan - (2!) and Myanmar (Burma). As example, in October or November, Buddha Returns from Heaven, and his path to earth is symbolically lighted, with
fire balloons, candles and lanterns.
In Win Pe's poem Morning Moon the evening moon is likened to a cool fire balloon, rising to pay homage to the Sacred Hare. In the traditional Chinese fairy tale, The Peacock Maiden, the heroine exclaims: "I can see a fire balloon floating, but I cannot see the person who lit the fire! I can see an embroidered love pouch in front of me, but, alas, where is he who dropped it!"
In her autobiography, The First Forty Years 1902 - 1942, Julie White tells how fleets of fire balloons used to fly over Peoria, Illinois, after the Fourth of July fireworks. By the time of the Depression, the
fire balloon tradition was gone.
In those days children knew about fire balloons. In John Farrer's 1921 book Songs for Parents, a song goes: "If I were a little fire balloon, I'd float aloft to Mars, I'd pay a call on Venus, and chatter with the stars..."
Nowdays paper fire balloons are mostly imaginary. In Roald Dahl's children's book, James and the Giant Peach wishes are attached to fire balloons. Children still make paper balloons, for school projects, but do not generally attach fire.
In Elizabeth Bishop's poem The Armadillo, a fire balloon crashes into a mountainside and lands on an owl's nest. In Terry Marks' acrylic/collage, Deities with Fire Balloon a fire balloon is attached to a string.
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