The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company the then-new concept of prepackaged tea under the "Thea-Nector" name. The tea company continued to use the "Great American" name for mail-order purposes. In 1871, A&P introduced another concept when it offered premiums, such as lithographs, china, and glassware with the purchase of coffee and/or tea at its stores. These premiums are now collectibles. George Huntington Hartford joined Gilman & Company as a clerk perhaps in the late 1850s; Hartford later was promoted to bookkeeper, then cashier, in 1866. By 1871 Hartford was in a position of authority and was responsible for expanding A&P to Chicago after its great fire.
Great Fire of 1873 Italianate-style buildings built between 1878 and 1887. In December 1872, 8 months prior, there had been another fire which started in a Chinese laundry facility. This fire destroyed several blocks in the areas of Front and Morrison streets. The official cause of the 1873 fire is undetermined, however many people of the time believed it was started by anti-Chinese arsonists. The areas of the 1872 fire had yet to be rebuilt and acted as a buffer for the fire of 1873. Great Fire of 1873 The Great Fire of 1873 was a major fire which swept through the downtown of