Thundersticks, sometimes known asbambams, are long, narrow plasticballoons that are used as promotional noise makers. The noise is created when two thundersticks are struck together. They are most often used at sporting events.
Thundersticks, known asmakdae pungseon (Korean: 막대풍선,lit. 'stick balloons') in South Korea, were created by BalloonStix Korea and first used in 1994 at anLG Twins baseball game.[1][2][3] They later gained popularity inNorth America when they were used by fans of theAnaheim Angels during the2002 World Series. Today thundersticks are used by fans of many sports teams in order to show their support, serving a similar purpose as theHomer Hanky associated with theMinnesota Twins and theTerrible Towel associated with thePittsburgh Steelers.
Thundersticks have appeared around the world at many sporting events. They are regularly seen in baseball games inTaiwan, basketball games in thePhilippines, andfootball matches throughout Europe, but sometimes under different names such as "bangers".[4]
Media related toThundersticks at Wikimedia Commons