Yes Richard, I remember those, and also what we called kneeger chasers.
Different animal all together, but I have a story. My departed uncle and I ambled down the street one day to the fireworks stand on the edge of town back in the mid-60s. He bought a lot more stuff than I could. We went back to my grandad's Deere dealership, and sat on the window ledge lighting firecrackers and smoke bombs and stuff. He a few of what were politely called "Texas Twisters" in his grocery bag. We happened to be sitting right next to the entrance door of the shop, him sitting nearest to it. As we were enjoying ourselves, one of the customers who was quite the prankster watched us through the large windows. He got the idea to reach out the door into my uncles's bag of loot, and extracted a Texas Twister. How he did this unseen is beyond me, but he pulled it off...he set it down right beneath poor old Uncle Fred's feet and got the sumbitch lit.
The thing started whistling, and Fred was on his feet in about 10 milleseconds. He ran out into the middle of the busy highway in front of the shop and that damned thing anticipated every move he made, It stayed under him no matter which direction he went. The whole incident seemed to go on for at least 15 seconds, and it finally blew up right underneath him. I've never seen anyone stay airborne as long as Fred did...it looked like his feet never touched the ground. By this time, there were five or six guys rolling on the sidewalk, including the instigator. I don't think I've laughed so hard since.
It was a sight to behold, and if I had a video of it I'd be world famous.