The Real Facts About the 4th…and Some Opinions

July 4, 2023

It’s time to celebrate some very real freedom throughout the country and the Auto Industry as we debunk a few myths and get down to the real data about one of our favorite holidays.

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Show Notes with links:

Fun 4th facts:

$9.5 Billion: Amount Americans plan to spend on 4th of July food.
150 Million: Number of hot dogs eaten each 4th of July.
$3 Billion: Amount Americans plan to spend on 4th of July beer and wine.
$2.7 Billion: Estimated amount spent on fireworks in 2022 (74% of fireworks injuries occur within a month of July 4).
$6.5 Million: Value of American flags imported annually.
50.7 Million: Number of people who travel 50+ miles from home for the 4th of July (up 4% over 2022 and setting a new record for the holiday).

Independence Day Inaccuracies:

Misconception about the July 4th date: It's commonly believed that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, which marks the United States' independence from Britain. In reality, the Second Continental Congress approved the independence resolution on July 2nd, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was mostly signed on August 2nd during a special ceremony. July 4th is the date the declaration was adopted and when printers started circulating it, hence the reason it's celebrated on this day.
The Liberty Bell didn't crack on July 4th, 1776: Contrary to popular belief, the Liberty Bell, named so by 19th-century abolitionists, did not crack on the day the colonies declared their independence. The bell first cracked over 20 years prior to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The most iconic crack, visible today, actually occurred in 1846 when an attempt to repair an earlier crack failed.
Misinterpretations from 'National Treasure': The movie 'National Treasure' popularized the idea that there's a hidden map or secret messages on the Declaration of Independence. However, this is not true. The only message on the back is a simple note: "Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776." The film did not use the actual interior of the National Archives for filming, nor the real Declaration of Independence, only a reproduction.

Paul Daly: 0:30July 4, let me just say something lots of fireworks gonna happen lots people are going to get hurt, but a lot more people are going to have a lot

‍Kyle Mountsier: 0:39

of car about the front face

Paul Daly: 0:46

they were all about breathing as a part of the real truth of this show. So we're real truth about

Kyle Mountsier: 0:51

dogs. Fireworks injuries, real truth

Paul Daly: 0:55

and too many GMs that are wearing shorts for the first time this year. Oh, oh, I don't need it. And no shoes that should have socks but don't and no one told them there's something called no show socks.So there's really no socks. got problems. Or you got like full on

Kyle Mountsier: 1:15

reel. Or like,

Paul Daly: 1:17

the black work socks box.

Kyle Mountsier: 1:19

Sandals. Just I just didn't even know Right?Yeah,

Paul Daly: 1:23

well, kids these days, they wear the sandals in the socks and it just makes my stomach turn. But

Kyle Mountsier: 1:27

it's they do it.It's a whole thing.

Paul Daly: 1:29

I don't understand who raised these kids.

Kyle Mountsier: 1:33

Apparently the1993 parents, so

Paul Daly: 1:36

I missed that. That totally skipped me. I've never done that in my life. And I'm I guess I'm too old to do it now.But thank you for being here with us today. It's the fourth we just have a little bit of an abridged show today. We're rockin our asotu con scarves. If you haven't seen him it's just sound like a like a festive thing. ASOTU CON is comitant hot, less than night weed less than 90 days now.

Kyle Mountsier: 1:55

We are definitely less than

Paul Daly: 1:58

September 26 and 27th in Baltimore. Go to asotucon.com about to announce a ton of speakers. Our keynote speaker even that's it. We'll say it again. Jesse Cole, owner of the savannah bananas look him up.Big. He's a big deal half a million and ticket waiting list to see his thing. And we also have ESPN phone it's go to asotucon.com get a ticket.They're still on sale. Not as cheap as they were last month but they're more cheaper than there'll be next month. We'll put it out. That's a great way to put it. Okay, we got some

Kyle Mountsier: 2:28

the cheaper than the be the cheaper than they'll ever be are gonna get more expensive feature right? We got some fun stuff for you. Okay,some fun. This is what we do on holidays. Just we don't know if you're new to the pot. This what we do on holiday just for

Paul Daly: 2:42

fun, just for fun.Okay, fun. Fourth of July facts first $9.5 billion is the amount Americans plan to spend on food on the Fourth of July. Oh my gosh. And there'll be of that9.5 billion 150 million. Hotdogs will be eaten. So do your multipliers and do your math.That's a pretty good portion.150 million

Kyle Mountsier: 3:07

hotdogs. 100million eaten just at the Nathan's hotdog stand.

Paul Daly: 3:12

I know what the competition $3 billion will be spent on beer and wine that actually so about a third of the total budget is beer and wine.Lots of fear. Lots of hot dogs do point 7 billion spent on fireworks. Well, that was last year. So this is gets back to the show intro so people spent$2.7 billion dollars on fireworks and 74% of the annual fireworks injuries occur within30 days of the Fourth of July.

Kyle Mountsier: 3:43

Have you ever seen the backup video? Oh, and we should have had that cued up.What is it? It's like this guy in a wheelchair. That's the the light in a firework and it's like, backhoe I can't remember the guys name but if someone's if someone's watching, they're gonna they're gonna figure it out and I should have a cued up.Maybe I'll try and find

Paul Daly: 4:04

Okay, okay. But I'll tell you what one of those people spend a lot of money on fireworks but no one getting hurt is our friend Glen Lundy.We went to his house for his Fourth of July party one year.And that brother had palette a full palette of fireworks that he put on the back of a pickup truck and I felt like I was at like a baseball game it was that good.

Unknown: 4:24

It's great. All

Paul Daly: 4:25

right, what else we got one more fun fact. And then some Independence Day inaccuracy. Well, we also have your you might be in the middle of this right now while you're listening to this podcast, but50 point 7 million people are the number of people who will be traveling 50 plus miles from home on the Fourth of July. Kind of record setting travel.Hopefully you're enjoying the good parts of that not the bad parts of it. Hopefully, you get where you're going safely and quickly. Alright, they're the facts. Yeah.

Kyle Mountsier: 4:53

Let's talk about what people just then just didn't. Okay, we got to set some facts straight here real quick.There are a few common misconceptions. The first one is about the actual date of July the fourth See, contrary to popular belief, July 4, they did not sign the Declaration of Independence on July the fourth actually what happened was the Second Continental Congress just a plot approved the resolution on July the second 1776. Okay,then the party last second, they actually signed the thing in a little special signing ceremony,you know, the photo that we that we all around July 4 is just the date that they started printing the heck out of them,circulating them, share them with everybody. So you know,that's that's when they that's why we're celebrating I've been lied to. We've been alright,here's the here's the worst we got. This one's a tough one. You know, the Liberty Bell crack.

Paul Daly: 5:52

I've heard about this because it's in Philly.

Kyle Mountsier: 5:55

Yeah, he's like,I got all I've seen it a lot. So no, not crack on July the fourth. That's Little, let's see little tail. The first cracked Act actually happened 20 years prior to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. And the most iconic crack the one that's still hanging out was actually happened when they were trying to repair an earlier crack. That was a man made

Paul Daly: 6:19

issue. I just think if like, if tick tock was around, the guy's like, Alright,I'm gonna repair the Liberty Bell. He's like King King King looked up most popular tic tac video of the year,

Kyle Mountsier: 6:32

it would have been it would have crushed it would have crushed. Well,speaking of crashing, okay. I will say national treasure kind of got its time there was a little bit of time it's gotten a couple of them movie. My kids loved one, right. But they did a total disservice to all of our brains in brainwashing us into thinking that there's some crazy message or hidden map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Not true, isn't there? The only thing on the back is some fancy words like original Declaration of Independence dated fourth July1776. So it's you know, it's just normal. It's basic. The film so did not use the National Archives for filming the actual place and they didn't use the real Declaration of Independence on the auction just movie magic.

Paul Daly: 7:22

Dot Hey, I think our producer Nathan has a special treat for us because while we were talking about the Declaration of Independence, I think he found that video so the video the

Kyle Mountsier: 7:30

original video was I think back from 2017 It got super popular again in 2021and 2022. It's called put it in reverse Terry and it is full ridiculous you kind of got to see it but also you don't even need to see it because the guy recording is actually the one to hear. So I guess I've never seen this.

Paul Daly: 7:49

I've never seen a little

Kyle Mountsier: 7:50

treat as you roll out on your July 4. Oh boy was lighting the fire

Paul Daly: 8:00

box. It's like a three by three box of fireworks.Mango to put it so what you're watching is a guy in a motorized wheelchair looking at surgery or moving away from the fireworks in about three inches per minute. That doesn't start moving until the end of that. Dude, that is amazing. Thank you. I don't know a better way to end our Fourth of July show then what do you do with dairy? What do you do with dairy? Look, whatever you're doing today, we're hoping you're having some funny tomatoes,maybe sell some cars spending some time with family. We'll see here tomorrow we get back to what regular life

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