That day was May 1st known as “Sweeps’ Day” in Great Britain. Other than room-and-board, their only reward was a single day off work each year. A trained climbing boy would be expected to perform this task at least four or five times each and every day. Once the climbing boy reached the very top, they would need to slide back down to the bottom of the fireplace, bag up the accumulated pile of soot, ash, and debris, then remove it to their master’s cart waiting out in the street. This is supposedly where the term “ light a fire under someone” originated. If the master sweep thought a climbing boy was moving too slowly or needed some extra "encouragement" to get moving along, he might purposely light a fire within the fireplace below. As the climbing boy pushed upwards, a continuous cloud of dust and ash would rain down upon them from above, making it impossible to see and very difficult to breathe. The scraper was used to loosen any remaining deposits that were left behind. The brush was held overhead to dislodge loose soot and ash. Two tools were typically used a large bristle brush and a metal scraper. As crazy it sounds, these small children were expected to wriggle their way up a chimney in caterpillar-like fashion by wedging their back, knees, elbows, and feet outward for support. Their small stature made them ideal for working in narrow flue passages within chimneys. Boys and girls would usually start service as early as age six (sometimes younger) to work as “ climbing boys”. Few, would picture small children doing this work, but that was once the cold, hard reality.ĭuring the late 1700’s and 1800’s, orphans and young children purchased from poor families were enslaved to work as apprentices for master chimney sweeps. When asked to picture a “Chimney Sweep”, most think of the character portrayed by Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.
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