- Lamplighter
A lamplighter, historically, was an employee of a town who lit
street light s, 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 townwatchman ; in others, it may have been seen as little more than asinecure . 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.Lamplighters in Fiction
*"The Lamplighter" was an
1854 novel byMaria Susanna Cummins .
* A lamplighter, never actually seen, is the central figure inBolesław Prus '1885 micro-story, "Shades."
*"The Lamplighter" was a1929 collection of poems by Irish poetSeamus O'Sullivan .
* A lamplighter who lives on an asteroid that rotates once a minute was one of the inhabitants of the universe inAntoine de Saint-Exupéry 's1943 novel, "The Little Prince ".
* "Lamplighters" are referred to inJohn le Carré 's novels, notably "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy " (1974 ), and "Smiley's People " (1979 ), frequently associated with their boss,Toby Esterhase ; their job is to carry outsurveillance .
* "Lamplighter" was a1987 children's story byBernice Thurman Hunter .
* "The Lamplighter" was a Golden Age superhero inKurt Busiek 'sAstro City comic books.
*Lamplighter (comics) is also the name of aDC Comics supervillain.
*"Lamplighter" is the title of the second book in fantasy authorD. M. Cornish 's trilogyMonster Blood Tattoo .
*"The Lamplighter" is the name of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School's student newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky.Other uses
*"Lamplighter" is a historic nightclub in
Vancouver .
*L. Jagi Lamplighter is an Americanscience fiction writer.
*Lamplighters Music Theatre , a San Francisco-based light opera company.
*Lamplighters Theatre , a Smyrna, Tennessee-based community theatre.
*When It's Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley , a song
*"Lamplighter" is a Jewish publication printed weekly and distributed all over Australia and New Zealand. On the web at: http://lamplighterweekly.com/
*TheLamplighter group is a mathematical object.
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