Bummer May 4: The Bazar de la Charité Fire

Happy Star Wars Day; May the 4th be with you. I come to you today to talk about something remarkably much less pleasant than Star Wars. Namely, a historical fire. But really, I just wanted an excuse to highlight an episode from a podcast that I particularly enjoy.

May 4, 1897: On the second day of a charity bazaar set up by Catholic charitable organizations in Paris, aristocratic women shop in a wooden warehouse set up to look like a Medieval market. Decorations of cardboard, cloth, papier-mache, and wood help achieve this effect. As an extra attraction, an early movie projector called a cinematograph is set up with ether lamps as a light source.

The projection equipment catches fire. With flammable materials all around and little to no signage marking the exits, the largely female crowd is trapped inside. 126 people die; 200 more are injured. Many of the dead were so badly burned that they could only be identified by their clothing, jewelry, or expensive dental work. 

Listen to the episode of Jennifer Matarese's Disaster Area podcast:

 

If you enjoy the podcast and want to support Jennifer, the following are some links to her social media accounts. I want her to be able to afford to write her next book, because I really want to read it. Become her patron on Patreon; you'll feel like a Renaissance-era Venetian arts patron, turning your money into art.

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If you don't have money--this is quite understandable--the best free way to support Jennifer and her research, writing, and podcasting is to give Disaster Area a 5-star review on any podcast platform that allows reviews. Especially Apple. Giving a podcaster a 5-star review on Apple increases their podcast's visibility to new potential listeners.

Fire at the Bazar de la Charité (Le Petit Journal). Artist: Osvaldo Tofani. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.