A postcard view (ca. 1915) of a burning metal oil storage tanks. The advent
of metal tanks certainly
did not end large fires in oil fields. Sparks, matches, and other ignition
sources continued to cause
large conflagrations. What seems remarkable now is that these disasters were
so widely accepted
and were apparently an exciting part of life at the time. Here families can
be seen making an outing
to the local fire scene. Hundreds of town had postcards of burning oil tanks
of their very own <
indeed, sometimes three or four towns claimed the same burning tank as their
very own.
© Peter A. Scholle, 1999
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