The Curse of the Crying Boy
In 1985, firefighters in England noticed that in house after burnt-out house, one thing had survived the flames: a print of a crying boy.
What was reported
In the 1950s and after, mass-produced prints of paintings of crying children, signed by an Italian artist, sold in their thousands across Britain. In September 1985, a national newspaper reported that firefighters in Yorkshire had found copies of one, 'The Crying Boy', intact in the ruins of burnt-out houses, again and again.
The newspaper called it a curse, and readers wrote in with their own stories of fires. So many people wanted to be rid of their prints that the paper organised bonfires to burn them.
Explanations offered
Investigators found that the prints were printed on hardboard coated with a fire-resistant varnish, and they were often fixed with string that burned through, so they fell face down and were protected. With so many in British homes, it was no surprise that some were found in house fires.
- When
- 1985
- Where
- Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Firefighters, a newspaper and its readers
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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