This scrapbook contains clippings from December 1914-February 1915 relating to the fire on December 9 that began in the film inspection building and destroyed or damaged more than half of the buildings in the West Orange laboratory complex. Included are special editions, devoted to the fire, of the Edison Works Monthly, published by Edison's youngest son, Theodore M. Edison, and the in-house organ, Edison Phonograph Monthly. Also included are clippings pertaining to President Woodrow Wilson's praise of Edison's "pluck and energy" after the fire, along with the preliminary report of an investigation by the National Board of Fire Underwriters and an undated clipping from Scientific American regarding the reconstruction. A typed index of periodicals is attached to the flyleaf. The spine is labeled "Labrotary Fire." The book contains 140 numbered pages; most of the pages after p. 96 are blank.
Approximately 40 percent of the scrapbook has been selected. The items not selected consist of clippings, including articles from three engineering journals, that are duplicates of clippings in Scrapbook, Cat. 44,509; and articles in Review of Reviews and Literary Digest, which are derived from the selected sources. Courtesy of Thomas Edison National Historical Park.