Illinois Printers — A Printer’s Paradise

THE CITY of Chicago gets a bad rap and, as a result, the state of Illinois gets tagged as a troublemaker. And it all started, depending upon which legend you believe, with Kate O’Leary’s cow.

It’s a sad city that blames a cow on its misfortunes, but that’s Chi-town’s issue. Fact of the matter is, on October 9, 1871, a fire tore through the Windy City that may have been started by Daisy, Gwendolyn, Bessy, Ryno or whatever the bovine’s moniker. The cow booted a lantern and, a few hundred alarms later, Chicago was engulfed—so badly, in fact, that they named it the Great Chicago Fire. A little lacking in creativity, sure, but you know it’s one heck of a fire when they capitalize its name.