Real photo postcard documenting the Cherry Mine disaster rescue and recovery effort, showing a temporary hoisting apparatus with a dense crowd of men at the shaft area. Real photo process on postcard stock. The front caption provides the subject identification and date reference; the reverse is an unused divided back with pencil notes.



The November 13, 1909, Cherry Mine disaster at Cherry, Illinois, one of the worst coal‑mine fires in U.S. history. The fire in the St. Paul Coal Company’s Mine No. 2 in the town of Cherry started when a coal car loaded with hay for the underground mules caught fire from an open kerosene torch; burning hay ignited wooden timbers and spread through the shafts. 259 men and boys (and about three dozen mules) died making it the third‑deadliest coal‑mining disaster in U.S. history. These images are from a series of real photo postcards produced by Dunham Photo of Princeton, Ill. to document the aftermath of the disaster.



The front bears the printed text: caption includes “Temporary Hoisting Apparatus … Helmet Men going down in the Mine … Cherry Mine Disaster … Cherry, Ill.” with date elements present but not fully legible. The reverse reads: “POST CARD” with “AZO” stamp box. Handwritten inscriptions read: pencil notations including “6/21/09” and a code-like word; no message written.