Snapshots of the Past

[The Chicago Incendiary] – Antique Print

[The Chicago Incendiary] — historic photograph
[The Chicago Incendiary]. Historic photograph from the Chicago collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This historic photograph of [The Chicago Incendiary] brings a moment of history to your wall. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It makes a striking addition to a living room, study or office, and a thoughtful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

[The Chicago Incendiary]

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The Chicago Incendiary is a c1871 photographic print, and its title points straight to the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871, which destroyed much of the city's central business district and left tens of thousands homeless. The fire's origin became a lasting subject of rumor: a popular story blamed a cow kicking over a lantern in a barn on DeKoven Street, though investigators never confirmed it. The word "incendiary" in the title suggests the image was tied to the public hunt for someone who had set the blaze deliberately, a theory many Chicagoans found more comforting than an accident. Pictures like this one give a sense of how the disaster was read and retold while the ruins were still fresh.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notesc1871.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,189 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-125234

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