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Website with 683+ pages devoted to 1903 Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago

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Christmas shopping in Chicago in 1903

Some Iroquois Theater goers went shopping in the morning before going to the theater. Christmas was five days past but windows would have still been decorated with Christmas themes.  Stores with large inventories to browse, like Marshall Field and Schlesinger & Mayer, would have benefited from customers choosing to stay inside the store and avoid weather conditions. There were six inches of snow on the ground and the temperatures dipped below zero that day.

A December 1903 issue of The Chicago Tribune highlighted some of the toys available for the 1903 season, including polar bears in a sleigh, a circus set, a cage full of monkeys, a Gatling gun, telescope, violin-playing rabbit, racing automobile, flying machine and a torpedo boat.

Christmas toys in 1903

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Chicago Schlesinger-Mayer store

Iroquois victim theft at saloon

Plamondon party survived

Other discussions you might find interesting

Story 1203
 


A note about sourcing.  When this project began, I failed to anticipate the day might come when a more scholarly approach would be called for.  When my mistake was recognized I faced a decision: go back and spend years creating source lists for every page, or go forward and try to cover more of the people and circumstances involved in the disaster.  Were I twenty years younger, I'd have gone back, but in recognition that this project will end when I do, I chose to go forward.  These pages will provide enough information, it is hoped, to provide subsequent researchers with additional information.


I would like to hear from you if you have additional info about an Iroquois victim, or find an error, and you're invited to visit the comments page to share stories and observations about the Iroquois Theater fire.


Judy Cooke 2024 All rights reserved ©