4th of July Facts & Figures
3:29 AMPosted by: John S Kiernan
Fireworks and freedom: That’s what America does on the Fourth of July to celebrate the nation’s birthday, which was established with the pen strokes of 56 founding fathers on the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Plus, we eat a whole lot of hotdogs: 150 million in total. We make a toast or two to good old Uncle Sam, shelling out more than $1.5 billion on July Fourth beer and wine. And we travel, with a record 44 million of us planning to venture 50+ miles from home this year.
While 2017 marks America’s 242nd birthday, there’s still a lot that we all can learn about Independence Day. To help fill you in and pump up your patriotism, we put together an awesome infographic filled with fun facts about this red, white and blue anniversary. We also polled a panel of leading American-studies experts for some added insight. You can check it out below.
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In search of pointers for how people can safely showcase their patriotism this Independence Day, we turned to a panel of leading experts in all matters relating to the safety of both consumers and their wallets. You can check out their bios and responses to the following questions below.
- What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country?
- What are the biggest 4th of July money-wasters?
- What are some health and safety tips for enjoying the holiday?
- What tips do you have for a person that wants to set off fireworks on a budget for 4th of July?
Justin Taillon Director of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Highline College
Gavin L. Fox Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Marketing at Washington and Lee University
Ira S. Kalb Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing in the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California
Christina T. Cavaliere Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies at Stockton University
Chelle Pahinui Lecturer in Tourism & Business at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country? Personally, I enjoy attending local and small community festivals. In recent years, we have moved to more urban centers. The small towns are not always thriving. Their 4th of July festivals can still be amazing, though! This is when the town is most alive, the weather is beautiful, and we are celebrating what the USA was founded as – community. In fact, I am worried many small towns could end their 4th of July celebrations due to a lack of funds. Research shows we are actually already seeing this. Let’s support these towns and keep this important event alive. I recommend you drive to a small town 1-2 hours from your urban center. For me, living in Seattle, there are dozens of options near national parks, on the water, and in the mountains. Let’s support our local communities in main street America! July 4th is a perfect time to do this. What are the biggest 4th of July money-wasters? If we’re only looking at a financial ROI then certainly fireworks are a money-waster. So are festivals. But we should probably attach community well-being and pride to ROI. In this case, there is a huge ROI from July 4th. This is a day when pride in one’s town, state, and country are most on display. I believe that community well-being, pride, and conservation are worth quite a bit in real dollars over the long-term. I have conducted a lot of DMO research focused on economic impact, leakage, and induced spending. July 4th fireworks may seem to be a negative from a financial stand-point, but in reality I believe main street America and many small businesses and independent retailers thrive on this day. I hope our local governments consider this when making plans for July 4th celebrations. What are some health and safety tips for enjoying the holiday? Let fire departments handle the fireworks. There is no reason for untrained individuals in the community to handle powerful fireworks. Secondly, the food safety inspector within me wants to ensure we cook our food thoroughly. Finally and perhaps most importantly, the statistics surrounding drinking and driving prevalence on the 4th of July is astounding. Esurance, the online car insurance retailer, recently conducted a large-scale study into drinking and driving in the USA and specifically July 4th. The findings are troublesome. For example, July 4th is the most dangerous day of the year on our roads – consistently for decades this has been true. Some other startling statistics are more than 1.5 million DUI arrests were made last year, more than 115 million instances of drinking and driving were suspected last year, and men between 21 and 34 were more than 30% of all DUI arrests. Please be careful, plan ahead, and do not drink and drive. What tips do you have for a person that wants to put a fireworks display on a budget for 4th of July? No. Just no. Too dangerous, too expensive, and too time consuming to be worthwhile. Support your local community organizers and fire department instead. I would also add, if you’re attempting to work under a strict budget then your dollars would be better spent elsewhere. If you can hire effective security and firework experts, then go for it. But if you are working within a budget then safety is too often the first thing to go. Support local! Gavin L. Fox Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Marketing at Washington and Lee University 
What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country? Fly the American flag and shoot fireworks (they represent that part of our national anthem where you should really start getting choked up). What are the biggest 4th of July money-wasters? Traveling (after all, the British came to us). Not to mention the fact that travel is often stressful and can take away from the joy of a holiday. What are some health and safety tips for enjoying the holiday? The 4th unfortunately has a high incidence of car fatalities due to alcohol consumption. Rather than simply saying "don't drink" or "have a DD," I'll say, "be sure to plan." Realize for instance how late fireworks take place and plan to be sober by around 10:00 pm. Have an energy drink on hand. Don't be in a rush to get anywhere and risk thinking, "I'm sober enough." Nothing ruins a good holiday like dying. What tips do you have for a person that wants to put a fireworks display on a budget for 4th of July? Seek economies of scale. Fireworks displays are best when enjoyed by many people, so get your neighborhood or just a group of friends to contribute to a fireworks fund. Ira S. Kalb Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing in the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California 
What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country? Barbecue with friends and family and watch officially sanctioned fireworks. What are the biggest 4th of July money-wasters? Individually purchased fireworks, since they may not be safe or legal. What are some health and safety tips for enjoying the holiday? Do not set off fireworks yourself, and certainly do not let kids do it. I have had students that have had serious accidents. What tips do you have for a person that wants to put a fireworks display on a budget for 4th of July? Watch community fireworks displays that are free, or attend commercially produced displays that are offered at a reasonable cost. Or, watch them on TV around the country. Christina T. Cavaliere Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management Studies at Stockton University 
What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country? Throw a party with locally produced and organic food and beverages! Celebrate and support your local farmers and local craft producers! Local and organic food is better tasting, better for your body and better for our environment and economy! By supporting local growers and artisanal food and beverage producers, you can reduce your family’s food miles and greenhouse gas emissions to help slow climate change. To learn more about locally crafted beverages keep an eye out for our upcoming book: Beers, Ciders & Spirits: Craft Beverages and Tourism in the U.S.: Volume 1 - The Rise of Breweries and Distilleries in the United States; Volume 2 - Environmental, Societal, and Marketing Implications (Slocum, S., Kline, C. S. and Cavaliere, C. T. (Eds.). (2017 in press). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan). Locally produced food and beverages help keep our towns unique and interesting and keeps family businesses in our communities. Every purchase we make is a vote with our dollar – let’s vote to keep our organic farmers and local food and beverage producers in business for a healthier body, community and country! Chelle Pahinui Lecturer in Tourism & Business at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo 
What is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July and the founding of our country? Bar-B-Q and, of course, fireworks! What are the biggest 4th of July money-wasters? Trying to do your own fireworks display. Always costly and disappointing. We go for the big ones. What are some health and safety tips for enjoying the holiday? Again, doing your own fireworks display is often dangerous and several roof fires and hands burned are reported every year. What tips do you have for a person that wants to put a fireworks display on a budget for 4th of July? Go to the shopping center or Freeway Overpass in Waikele and watch the big shows. From there you can see them from Waikiki to Pearl Harbor to Koolina and all the neighborhood ones in between.from Wallet HubWallet Hub
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