Bob Gerau's first fireworks stand in 1965 was an 8-by-12-foot plywood structure at Highway 63 and Interstate 70.

"My first stand, I sold $400 worth, total," Gerau said. "I sat down with my wife and we figured out we made about a quarter an hour."

Now, 57 years later, he's in a 3,000-square-foot, air-conditioned building at 7551 Tom Bass Road off Highway 63, where his fireworks business has been since 2005.

His sales have improved over the years, he said.

"One year we were in business for seven days and we finally broke $100," Gerau said. "That was probably in the 1970s."

Gerau, 82, has been in the fireworks business for 57 years, a painter for 65 years and married for 61 years.

"When I find something I like, I stick with it," he said.

These days, he sometimes sells $5,000 worth of fireworks to an individual customer. Those customers are usually buying for an entire neighborhood after taking up a collection, he said.

His son, Tim Gerau, helps at the store.

A determined-looking Kris Schultz was in the store on Thursday, filling a shopping cart with fireworks.

"The biggest and the loudest," Schultz said was his goal. "I come every year."

He was buying fireworks for his family and estimated his haul to be $500.

The families and the children are the reason he keeps returning, Bob Gerau said.

"I have a lot of kids come in," Gerau said. "I tell jokes to the kids and they love it. You see family after family come in. It's a family affair. There's a real unity with families."

The products are improving, too, he said. Fireworks have more intense colors than in the past.

"Every year, you get better and better products," Gerau said.

He's forthcoming that the quality of Black Cat firecrackers have declined over the years.

"Black Cat has lessened their quality," he said.

He sells a lot of smoke bombs and sparklers every year, he said. The single-fuse fireworks packages have become popular, he said.

This year has been marked by shortages and higher prices. He has tried to keep prices reasonable, he said.

"You try to treat the people fairly and honestly," he said.

He has a collection of antique fireworks in a back room. One from the 1930s is called "Devil Among the Tailor," made by Triumph Fuse & Fireworks Co. in Elkton, Maryland. Gerau paid $500 for it.

"What I tell people is I don't know what my collection is worth," he said. "I do know what I put in it — $100,000."

Another is from Longhorn Fireworks in Roswell, New Mexico. It's no longer in business.

"The reason they're not there anymore is because they ran out of aliens to grind up to put in the fireworks," Gerau said.

It was one of several jokes he shared. Some more:

"What did one eye say to the other eye? There's something between us and it smells."

Saying he didn't know the area of his building in metric measurements, Gerau asked, "What is a metric cookie?"

"You know what they do when you don't pay your trash bill in Arkansas? They stop delivering."

He's open year-round by appointment, but his official season runs from Memorial Day weekend to July 20.

Business starts slow after Memorial Day, but it hits a peak this weekend.

"We'll be covered up," he said.

Columbia's public Fourth of July Celebration is Monday at Stephens Lake Park.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.