The history of the fire of the Grand Bazar of Charity (1897) almost made a 125th victim: the cinema!
This catastrophe cost the lives of 124 people, most of whom were charitable women from high society in Paris. The victims include, among others, Sophie-Charlotte, Duchess of Alençon (sister of the Empress "Sissi"), the painter and ceramist Camille Moreau-Nélaton and Madame de Valence and her two daughters. The drama almost made an invention go into nothingness at its birth; the cinema, called at the time "cinematograph".
It is indeed the explosion of the lamp of a projection apparatus - one of the main attractions of the bazaar - which caused the fire.
An old issue of L'Illustration tells us the details of the incident
The fire of May 4, 1897 is one of those terrible catastrophes, which after plunging many families into mourning and their contemporaries into consternation, leave an indelible memory from generation to generation.
The well-known institution, intended to support various important works, the Bazaar of Charity, had just opened its annual sale. The main animators wanted to solicit curiosity by the attraction of an original innovation. The committee acquired a "Rue du Vieux Paris" in the heart of the Champs-Elysees, rue Jean-Goujon, on a vacant lot, he planted this painted canvas decor. A varnished pitchpin fence completed this fragile building.
The sales counters were set up in picturesque stalls, offering two parallel rows of pointed towers, awnings surmounted by legendary signs: A la Tour de Nesle. To the Golden Lion, To Puss in Boots, etc ... A huge awning was stretched from one end of the gallery to the other.
At about four o'clock the party was in full swing, when suddenly the ominous cry "Fire!"
The fire of the Grand Bazaar of charity
The explosion of the lamp of a cinematograph had just ignited the velum, instantly transforming it into an immense sheet of fire.
The firefighters, despite their diligence, arrived too late to avoid or mitigate the disaster, and reduced to the task of drowning the rubble, discovered there by the corpses piled up, exposing contracted bodies, unrecognizable heads ... All Paris already knows the episodes of the fire. The inevitable panic and the fatal jostling due to the doors too narrow.
L'incendie du Grand Bazar de la Charité (1897)... | Cultures Co
Histoire – Un oiseau sur la plume
This catastrophe cost the lives of 124 people, most of whom were charitable women from high society in Paris. The victims include, among others, Sophie-Charlotte, Duchess of Alençon (sister of the Empress "Sissi"), the painter and ceramist Camille Moreau-Nélaton and Madame de Valence and her two daughters. The drama almost made an invention go into nothingness at its birth; the cinema, called at the time "cinematograph".
It is indeed the explosion of the lamp of a projection apparatus - one of the main attractions of the bazaar - which caused the fire.
An old issue of L'Illustration tells us the details of the incident
The fire of May 4, 1897 is one of those terrible catastrophes, which after plunging many families into mourning and their contemporaries into consternation, leave an indelible memory from generation to generation.
The well-known institution, intended to support various important works, the Bazaar of Charity, had just opened its annual sale. The main animators wanted to solicit curiosity by the attraction of an original innovation. The committee acquired a "Rue du Vieux Paris" in the heart of the Champs-Elysees, rue Jean-Goujon, on a vacant lot, he planted this painted canvas decor. A varnished pitchpin fence completed this fragile building.
The sales counters were set up in picturesque stalls, offering two parallel rows of pointed towers, awnings surmounted by legendary signs: A la Tour de Nesle. To the Golden Lion, To Puss in Boots, etc ... A huge awning was stretched from one end of the gallery to the other.
At about four o'clock the party was in full swing, when suddenly the ominous cry "Fire!"
The fire of the Grand Bazaar of charity
The explosion of the lamp of a cinematograph had just ignited the velum, instantly transforming it into an immense sheet of fire.
The firefighters, despite their diligence, arrived too late to avoid or mitigate the disaster, and reduced to the task of drowning the rubble, discovered there by the corpses piled up, exposing contracted bodies, unrecognizable heads ... All Paris already knows the episodes of the fire. The inevitable panic and the fatal jostling due to the doors too narrow.
L'incendie du Grand Bazar de la Charité (1897)... | Cultures Co
Histoire – Un oiseau sur la plume
