Figure 1.--Here we have a Dutch postcard mailed in 1910. We have no information about the card, but it looks like an idealized image of chimley sweeps depicted with a little girl. We are not sure if the clothing and green hats have any relation to the garments actually worn by sweeps. |
Chimley sweeps came to be seen as good luck. I am not sure why this was. By the early 20th century we begin to see idealized images of chimley sweeps. This is the case in several European countries. We are not entirely sure how to interpret these images. European countries by this time was significantly limiting child labor. (America had made less progress.) As a result these idealized images in Europe were acceptable. There was still a need for chimley sweeps, but the work was not being done by children, at least in the major Western European countries.
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