The "Fireproof" Iroquois Theater

The cover of the Iroquois' Playbill, proclaiming the theater to be "Absolutely Fireproof."


When the Iroquois Theater first opened on November 23, 1903, its first playbill was printed with the exclamation that the Iroquois was "Absolutely Fireproof." This was quite an astounding claim, one that theater patrons might have questioned, had they realized that the Iroquois had originally not been slated to be opened until the spring 1904. Instead, eager (or, some might argue, greedy) theater owners pulled strings, pushed bribes, hassled contractors, and had the Iroquois' opening day pushed up by several months, just in time to take advantage of holiday spending.

In fact, contractors were still putting the finishing touches on the theater when it opened its doors to ticket holders on November 23. Despite this, the first few weeks of operation seemed to sail along with nary a major glitch.

It's likely that Iroquois management found it necessary to include the reference to the "fireproof" nature of the premises in deference to two other notorious theater fires which may have been on the minds of ticket holders. One happened in Brooklyn, New York in 1876, claiming approximately 300 lives. The other occured in Vienna, Austria just five years later. It claimed over 800 lives.

Fire hazards aside, theaters had something of a nefarious reputation anyway. Theater-going was looked upon by conservative folk and religious adherents of the time as being frivolous and a shameful waste of money. Actors and actresses were considered an unsavory and unwholesome bunch, certainly not a type of people to be consorted with.

Finally, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was still on the minds of those who had been around long enough to remember it. The fire wiped out miles of the city's downtown, destroying businesses and some homes.

But in the subsequent thirty plus years, the city had managed to make a grand comeback. During its planning stages, the Iroquois was promised to become the most opulent and state of the art theater that Chicago had ever seen.

So the reference to its "Absolutely Fireproof" interior was management's way of assuring patrons that there was no need to worry, only to enjoy the fine furnishings and quality entertainment. What the Iroquois failed to do was to include in its playbill a diagram of the interior layout of the theater, clearly denoting all doors and emergency exits as was explicitly required by law. It seems as though they must have felt there was no need to waste the ink. After all, the building was "fireproof."

Unfortunately, this glaring omission was only one (and certainly not the first) of many oversights (whether accidental or deliberate) which would eventually lead to tragedy.