Real photo postcard documenting the Cherry Mine disaster aftermath, with a caption describing caskets being placed into boxes and labeled. Real photo process on postcard stock. The front carries the descriptive caption; the reverse is an unused AZO divided back with pencil notations.



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 to document the aftermath of the disaster.



The front bears the printed text: “Scene near Morgue as Caskets are being placed in Boxes and Names written on Boxes … Cherry Mine Disaster … Cherry, Ill.”. 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.