DOT era repacked in Macau firecrackers

[dchambers490]

There are brands of firecrackers that are labeled made in China repacked in Macau. I've seen Zebra, Black Cat, and Big Bomb labeled this way. I'm sure there are others. Does anyone know why China would send firecrackers to Macau to be processed?

[gweilo]

Actually I suspect such relabeling had been going on for years prior to the U.S restoring relations with the PRC. Labor was so much cheaper on the mainland than in Macau? Most of the Macau firecracker factories had closed down or dramatically reduced output by the time U.S. relations with the mainland were restored, but they still had plenty of labels left over, and the brands on those labels were familiar to U.S. consumers (as opposed to the domestic Chinese labels at the time). It wouldn't be long though before the familiar Macau brands would disappear entirely (with the exception of Black Cat) and mainland brands like Thunderbomb would dominate the U.S. retail shelves.

[halk]

Could be bulk crackers sent to Macau for braiding and packaging, as actual production there was in decline. Some companies actually removed labels from packs made in the PRC and replaced them with their own labels. Have some Noi-Zee packs like that, all blackpowder, with remnants of Flying Fairy labels underneath.