“Criminals represented in the Chamber of Horrors, however, will have no feelings in the matter, as they are all dead”
– Report on the fire as Madame Tussaud’s, London 18 March 1925
Survivors of the fire at Madame Tussaud’s. Photograph published in Het Leven, Amsterdam, March 1925.
The fire that tore threw London attraction Madame Tussaud’s on 18 March 1925 melted the famous waxworks. Fire crews piled some of the ‘dead’ mannequins outside the attraction on Baker Street. The fire was “a wonderful spectacle. Strong red and golden flames leapt 50 feet from the roof of the building,” one eyewitness told reporters. “The wax models could be distinctly heard sizzling themselves to ‘death’.”
Murderer Dr Crippen (left mannequin) was one of the few effigies to be saved from the fire.
Among the models of the great, the good and the not so good, that of killer Dr Hawley Crippen survived – the American homeopath, ear and eye specialist and medicine dispenser was hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, for the murder of his wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen. Lost were a a collection of important Napoleonic relics — including the coach used by Napoleon on St Helena which was damaged beyond repair.
A green parrot also survived the blaze that gutted the upper floors and roof. What a live parrot was doing among the waxworks was moot. But reports were flowery and as legend has it the bird was soon in fine form, telling one reporter within earshot: ‘This is a rotten business.”
Perhaps it was because no-one living was injured in the fire that reports took come artistic licence. One site has compiled some highlights from news stories of the day:
“London is not often the scene of spectacular fires, but thanks to the liberal supply of wax fuel the world-famous building in the Marylebone Road created a blaze last night which was the most thrilling fire spectacle witnessed in London for years.”
“The fire at Madame Tussaud’s was a most wonderful spectacle, with multi-coloured flames shooting high in the air…Ten thousand onlookers watched the progress of the fire, and when they heard the wax models sizzling shouted to the firemen: ‘How’s Deeming?’ and ‘How’s Crippen?’” (two criminals whose wax likenesses were included in the Chamber of Horrors).”
“The fire brigade was under the command of Mr. A. R. Dyer, who was brought to the scene from a theatre where he had been spending the evening with some friends. Despite the fact that he was in evening dress he took an active part in the operations.”
“A cheer came from the assembled thousands when the salvage men came out carrying a large cage in which was the renowned Mme. Tussaud’s parrot. The parrot was found lying at the bottom of its cage stupefied as a result of the smoke and the intense heat, but after a few moments in the open air it revived…Then it startled everyone by remarking, ‘This is a rotten business.’“
“It is strange to think of the number of eminent, and highly respectable people being burned in effigy in London. Madame Tussaud’s famous waxworks spread its net far and wide, and at least forty people of the present Parliament and scores of notabilities outside were represented in wax in these burning galleries. Criminals represented in the Chamber of Horrors, however, will have no feelings in the matter, as they are all dead.”
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