Belznickle Blogspot : The Climbing Boys: The climbing boys, and sometimes girls, were technically called chimney sweeps apprentices , and were apprenticed to a master swe...
"Chimney sweeps long since found their occupations gone," said a dealer in furnaces, who makes a specialty of the cleaning of modernized chimneys, to a reporter. "Over forty years ago the trade of chimney sweep was a good paying one. At that time nothing but soft coal and wood was burned. The chimneys were then made large enough to allow the passage of a man's body. But few chimneys are now made over two feet square. Chimneys are now cleaned by the means of huge brushes which reach from kitchen to roof. Many tenants believe they suffer from smoke caused by defective flues, when the real cause is a clogged chimney. Hard coal makes little else than dust, but if a chimney is uncleaned for many years the accumulated dust drops down and interferes with the burning of the fire. Prices paid for cleaning chimneys are much smaller than in former years, in some cases almost half the cost.
Chimney sweeping forty years ago was monopolized by the colored people, who made it a fine art. The manner in which a chimney sweep heralded his approach was novel. Sometimes, if the block was short, he would commence to sing in a low tone which increased with every step, and when the end of the block was reached he would break out in a volume of sound. In many instances chimney sweeps had good voices, and their singing was greatly appreciated by the children along their routes. This class has wholly disappeared. Colored men who formally earned their livelihoods as chimney sweeps have engaged in other lines of trade.
Olden Time Chimney Sweeping.
How It Was Carried on Forty Years Ago--Talk With a Sweep
"Chimney sweeps long since found their occupations gone," said a dealer in furnaces, who makes a specialty of the cleaning of modernized chimneys, to a reporter. "Over forty years ago the trade of chimney sweep was a good paying one. At that time nothing but soft coal and wood was burned. The chimneys were then made large enough to allow the passage of a man's body. But few chimneys are now made over two feet square. Chimneys are now cleaned by the means of huge brushes which reach from kitchen to roof. Many tenants believe they suffer from smoke caused by defective flues, when the real cause is a clogged chimney. Hard coal makes little else than dust, but if a chimney is uncleaned for many years the accumulated dust drops down and interferes with the burning of the fire. Prices paid for cleaning chimneys are much smaller than in former years, in some cases almost half the cost.
 |
| A "romanticized" illustration of chimney sweeps. Victorians were notorious for depicting things from this point of view. |
The reporter called on an aged colored man recently, who many years ago carried on the trade of chimney sweep in this city. He has changed his occupation to that of whitewashing. He said:
"Chimney sweeping is played out. When I started in the business nearly fifty years ago a good sweep could make $10 and $15 a day. The kind of fuel used nowadays and the size of the chimneys has ruined the business. Before the use of hard coal became general chimneys were so arranged that they might be easily cleaned. Steps were made upon which the sweep might stand while performing his work. I narrowly escaped death many times while at work. Once I was precipitated down a chimney of fifty feet. After bouncing from side to side I reached the bottom with a contused body and a broken leg. In the olden time fireplaces and chimneys were used as a hiding place for valuables. --Brooklyn Eagle, 1886
The lives of chimney sweeps in the Victorian era.
No comments:
Post a Comment