Popular culture has depicted chimney sweeps as skinny characters that are covered in soot and push around a broom. Nowadays, you expect your chimney cleaner to be an adult that carries a broom or brush, along with other equipment, like vacuums, cameras and other special tools. It wasn't always like this.
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The profession came about with the Industrial Revolution, when more and more buildings became home to chimneys. Chimney sweeps during this time were called master sweeps, and would teach the craft to young boys (and sometimes girls) who were called "apprentices" or "climbing boys." The children were found at orphanages or bought from their parents, for minor payments. Apprentices were indentured to the master sweep for seven years, and after the end of his apprenticeship, he would become a 除甲醛空氣清新機 journeyman sweep and work for a master of his choice.
These children would be the ones who cleaned the chimneys, by actually climbing inside. The boy would pull his hat down over his face, and hold a large brush over his head, and put himself into the flue. He would travel through the chimney, using his body and brush to remove soot, and a scraper to chip away at what wasn't easily removed. Upon exit from the chimney, he would then have to bag up the soot (which was valuable at the time) and carry it back to the master sweep's means of transportation.
Apprentices would sweep four to five chimneys a day. In order to harden the skin to prevent scraping of knees and elbows, the master sweep would often stand them close to a hard fire and rub in brine using a brush, doing this each evening until the skin was hard. These apprentices earned no wage, but were fed by the master sweep, and bathed once a week. If an apprentice wasn't climbing high enough or moving as fast as the master wanted, the master sweep would light a fire or send up another boy to prick pins into the apprentice's feet or other areas.
There were many dangers with the profession at this time. Chimneys were hot from fires, or still on fire in some cases. Boys could get stuck, and if they struggled, they became wedged tighter. For narrow chimneys, the boys would have to sweep naked.
Regulations didn't begin to be passed until 1788. The first such attempt, the Chimney Sweepers Act 1788, lacked enforcement, but the Chimney Sweeps Act 1834 fixed many of the needed issues, including not allowing apprentices under 14 years of age, no more than six apprentices per master sweep, and climbing boys were not allow to be used to climb flues to extinguish flues.
More regulation came in 1840 when it was made illegal for any one under 21 to sweep chimneys. In 1875, regulation was passed that required chimney sweepers to be authorized by the police after the death of a 12-year-old boy and the imprisonment of his master.