Interesting facts about chimney sweeping

Chimney sweeps have been around for decades even though the profession is significantly different than it was in the beginning. Chimney sweeping in Long Island might not seem like a profile that would have a rich history but it does. 

In this post, we are discussing some interesting facts about chimney sweeping. 

Chimney cleaning was a job for children

Back in the days, boys were either acquired from orphanages or sold by poor parents to chimney sweeps. However, girls were also often found stuck at the job. Children between the age group of 6 to 12 were bonded in an agreement to work as servants to chimney sweeps. They were made to climb the chimneys from inside and clean the flues with a brush as going along. If these children were slow in performing the job, the chimney sweep would light a fire in the fireplace. Unfortunately, these kids lived a horrible life. They were not permitted to bathe and often begged for food. This is how chimney maintenance in Long Island. 

Chimney sweeps and geese 

A dirty chimney was a common problem. Other chimney problems were solved using children before chimney sweeping equipment was introduced. There were many chimney sweeps who used geese as a chimney cleaning tool. Of course, it wasn’t a foolproof invention. The process involved tying a rope on the goose’s neck and forcing it to fly to the chimney top. When the bird would go up, the master would pull the rope to brush the bird against the chimney. This way they cleaned the soot on the chimney. 

Original sweep tools are still used today 

Thanks to the introduction of “Act for the Regulation of Chimney Sweepers”, making the children clean the chimneys were banned in 1864 in England. Thus, there was a need for another approach to do the job. Of course, the one that didn’t involve tying a rope to a goose’s neck. Joseph Glass in the 18th century invented equipment comprising canes and brushes that could be used from the fireplace to clean the chimney. You’d be surprised to know that these tools are still used in many countries including Long Island, the US for chimney maintenance.  

I hope these facts were interesting to read. If you have any interesting facts about the chimney, please do share them in the comment section below.