A
lamplighter, historically, was an employee of a town who lit
street lights, generally by means of a wick on a long pole. At dawn, they would return and turn them off using a small hook on the same pole. Early street lights were generally candles, oil, and similar consumable liquid or solid lighting sources with wicks. Another lamplighter duty was to come with a ladder and renew the candles, oil, or gas mantles. In some communities, lamplighters served in a role akin to a town
watchman; in others, it may have been seen as little more than a
sinecure. In the 19th century,
gas lights became the dominant form of street lighting. Early gaslights required lamplighters, but eventually systems were developed which allowed the lights to operate automatically.
There is a long history of the role of a lamplighter-as-lightbringer as a symbolic figure in literature.
The Burning Man festival makes use of lamplighters.
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