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October 08, 2006
gettin' all historic on your ass!
Late one night, when we were all in bed,
Mrs. O'Leary lit a lantern in the shed.
When her cow kicked it over,
She winked her eye and said,
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
135 years ago today the Great Fire began, changing the landscape (and fire regulations) of Chicago forever.
Most American kids know the above rhyme and love it, I think, because they get to yell, 'FIRE!'. But as we all know by now, Mrs O'Leary was just a scapegoat. Her cow didn't kick the lantern over. Yes, there really was a Mrs. O'Leary, and she was Irish and Catholic, two things you didn't want to be in Chicago in the 19th century.
So she got blamed and no one really cared.
But hey, without the Chicago Fire we wouldn't have Grant Park and some of the most amazing public art ever.
For those who know the city a little bit, check out this amazing map of the progression of the fire. It still blows me away just how much of the city burned down.
ok, back to the lowbrow Idol crap....
-gg
oooh, Mark Holden just gave the BEST judge's comment EVER! He said about Damien's crappy disco performance, 'I seriously seriously hope that you do not get voted off tomorrow night, because do you know what that would mean, That means that I have to listen to that again!"
OOH BURN!!!
oh, and then there was a good old fashioned cussing out by James Mathison. (aka the bug-eyed-boy) Rock on!
Posted by gadgetgirl at October 8, 2006 08:20 PM
Comments
I'm reading that American Experience book about Chicago now and have just gotten up to the chapter on the Fire. It's just stunning to think that almost everything from 12th to Diversey burned to the ground (except that one Water Works tower).
Posted by: amyc at October 10, 2006 09:16 PM
WOW! Thats just crazy.
It is so hard to imagine not only what it looked liked but what it would have smelled like. We get lots of bush fires around Sydney and if you go the areas after the fire is out, the smell is overwhelming. But thats mostly just trees and scrub burning, not homes, rubbish, etc. I can't blame the Chicago forefathers for dumping it all into the lake.
Posted by: gadgetgirl at October 11, 2006 06:56 AM
Hmmm the version I learned had a peculiar second verse:
Cheer girls cheer, the school is burning down
Cheer boys cheer, it's burning to the ground
Cheer girls cheer, the teacher's out of town
There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!
Obviously, I'm not from Chicago...LOL.
Posted by: tori at October 12, 2006 01:56 AM
too funny! I like it.
Posted by: gadgetgirl at October 12, 2006 06:38 AM