![]() The biggest question in the wake of this tragically avoidable accident is what happened to bring about the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. Despite certain shortcomings, this lighthearted book offers a pleasing blend of nostalgia and imagination. In the early 20th century, a giant tank of industrial molasses ruptured in the North End, triggering a calamity that left 21 dead and 150 injured, and created millions of dollars in property damage. On several pages, ample white backgrounds allow Lent's diminutive human figures to stand out a bit, as they otherwise tend to blend into their similarly hued surroundings. Lent's muted, mottled artwork prominently features the red-brick colors of the buildings on the Boston waterfront, and broad smears of brown oozing molasses. However, the somewhat lackluster plot line fails to provide a sense of silliness that the title implies. With a comical tone, Lent stretches a promising premise as far as it will go. Charlie Owen Muldoon-and the rest of Boston-has more than enough frozen chunks of molasses stored in the pantry. A gooey river flows through town displacing most everything in its path, but (as is wont to happen during a New England winter) a cold snap soon freezes the molasses in its tracks. Young Charlie Owen Muldoon becomes a wide-eyed spectator on the January day when a sudden rise in temperature causes a local molasses tank to swell and explode. The number of dead wasn’t known for days. It demolished wooden homes, even the brick fire station. An incident in old-time Boston jump-starts this sticky legend. A 50-foot-tall steel tank filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses had just collapsed on Boston’s waterfront, disgorging its contents as a 15-foot-high wave of molasses that at its outset traveled at 35 miles an hour. On January 15, 1919, a 50-foot tall tank full of industrial grade molasses ruptured, sending a 2.3 million gallon wave of molasses rushing through the crowde.
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