A
lamplighter, historically, was an employee of a town who lit
street lightA street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate automatically...
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 carry a ladder and renew the candles, oil, or gas mantles.
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A
lamplighter, historically, was an employee of a town who lit
street lightA street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate automatically...
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 carry a ladder and renew the candles, oil, or gas mantles. In some communities, lamplighters served in a role akin to a town
watchmanWatchman or Watchmen may refer to:*Watchman , a member of a group who provided law enforcement**Security guard or watchman, a person who watches over and protects property, assets, or people...
; in others, it may have been seen as little more than a
sinecureA sinecure means an office which requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
. In the 19th century,
gas lightsGas lighting refers to a technology used to produce light from a gaseous fuel including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, or ethylene....
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 ManBurning Man is an annual event held in the Black Rock Desert, in Northern Nevada. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
festival makes use of lamplighters.
Lamplighters in Fiction
- The Lamplighter
The Lamplighter is a sentimental novel written by Maria Susanna Cummins published on March 1, 1854. The Lamplighter was Cummins's first novel and was an immediate best-seller, selling 20,000 copies in twenty days. The work sold 40,000 in eight weeks, and within five months it had sold 65,000...
was an 1854 novel by Maria Susanna Cummins-Biography:Maria Susanna Cummins was born in Salem, Massachusetts on April 9, 1827. In 1854, she published the novel The Lamplighter, a sentimental book which was widely popular and which made its author well-known. One reviewer called it "one of the most original and natural narratives". Within...
.
- A lamplighter, never actually seen, is the central figure in Bolesław Prus' 1885 micro-story, "Shades
"Shades" is one of Bolesław Prus' shortest micro-stories. Written in 1885, it comes from a several years' period of pessimism in the author's life caused partly by the 1883 failure of Nowiny , a Warsaw daily that he had been editing less than a year...
."
- The Lamplighter was a 1929 collection of poems by Irish poet Seamus O'Sullivan
Seumas or Seamus O'Sullivan, real name James Sullivan Starkey, was an Irish poet and editor of The Dublin Magazine. He was born in Dublin and spent his adult life in the suburb of Rathgar...
.
- A lamplighter who lives on an asteroid that rotates once a minute was one of the inhabitants of the universe in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint Exupéry was a French writer and aviator. He is best remembered for his novella The Little Prince, and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars....
's 1943 novel, The Little PrinceThe Little Prince , published in 1943, is French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's most famous novella. Saint-Exupéry wrote it while living in the United States...
.
- "Lamplighters" are referred to in John le Carré
John le Carré is an English author of espionage novels, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
's novels, notably Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a spy novel by John le Carré, first published in 1974. It is the first volume of a three-book series informally known as The Karla Trilogy, followed by The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. All three novels were published as a single-volume omnibus, The...
(1974), and Smiley's PeopleSmiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy...
(1979), frequently associated with their boss, Toby EsterhaseToby Esterhase is a fictional character in John le Carré's George Smiley spy novels including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; and Smiley's People, as well as some of the stories in The Secret Pilgrim....
; their job is to carry out surveillanceSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people and often in a surreptitious manner...
.
- "Lamplighter" was a 1987 children's story by Bernice Thurman Hunter
Bernice Thurman Hunter, CM was a Canadian children's author.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Hunter spent her adult years as an Eaton's employee, and did not publish her first book, That Scatterbrain Booky , until she was a grandmother...
.
- "The Lamplighter" was a Golden Age
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s...
superhero in Kurt BusiekKurt Busiek is a comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Biography and early career:...
's Astro CityKurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered around a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
comic books.
- Lamplighter (comics) is also the name of a DC Comics
DC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
supervillain.
- Lamplighter is the title of the second book in fantasy author D. M. Cornish
David M. Cornish is a fantasy author and illustrator from Adelaide, South Australia. His first book is Foundling, the first part of the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy. The second book named Lamplighter was released in May 2008. The third in the series is named Factotum and is due to be released in...
's trilogy Monster Blood TattooMonster Blood Tattoo is a children's/young adult's fantasy trilogy written by Australian author D. M. Cornish. It tells the story of Rossamünd, a boy unfortunately christened with a girl's name, who has lived his entire life in a foundlingery before he is chosen to become a lamplighter in a far...
.
- "The Lamplighter" is the title of a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Schwob, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K...
, published in A Child's Garden of VersesA Child's Garden of Verses is a collection of poetry for children by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The collection first appeared in 1885 under the title Penny Whistles, but has been reprinted many times, often in illustrated versions...
Other uses
- "Lamplighter" is a historic nightclub in Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. The city is bounded by English Bay, Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River, the city of Burnaby, and the University Endowment Lands. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a...
.
- "The Lamplighter" is the name of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School's student newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky.
- L. Jagi Lamplighter is an American science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction. It differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically-established or scientifically-postulated laws of nature...
writer.
- Lamplighters Music Theatre
Lamplighters Music Theatre is a semi-professional theatrical company based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1952 by Orva Hoskinson and Ann Pool MacNab, The Lamplighters specialize in light opera, particularly the works of Gilbert and Sullivan....
, a San Francisco-based light opera company.
- Lamplighters Theatre
Lamplighters Theatre Company is an American semi-professional community theatre company in Smyrna, Tennessee. Established in 1998 as a ministry of Smyrna Assembly of God, their purpose is to "utilize the dramatic arts to advance the kingdom of God on the earth." They attempt to accomplish this by:*...
, a Smyrna, Tennessee-based community theatre.
- When It's Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley
When It's Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley is a 1933 country ballad to a waltz melody. The song was a hit by the group the The Vagabonds back then. The song lyrics are about one who longs for his mother who is far away in a valley. Marty Robbins later covered the song...
, a song
- Lamplighter is a Jewish publication printed weekly and distributed all over Australia and New Zealand. On the web at: http://lamplighterweekly.com/
- The Lamplighter group
In mathematics, the lamplighter group L of group theory is the wreath product Z/2Z ≀ Z. The base group B of L isand so L/B is isomorphic to Z....
is a mathematical object.
- Slang for covert "service" personnel, whose duties include covert surveillance and courier deliveries, and maintaining safe houses.
- The Old Lamplighter was a song performed by a country western group, The Browns, in 1960 (The Old Lamplighters lyrics)