Up from the Ashes: The Revival of the American Chimney Sweep Trade and the People Who Built It - Paperback

by Jim Gillam (Author)

One of the little known side effects of the mid-1970s OPEC oil embargo was the rebirth of the chimney sweep trade in the United States. Thousands of people with no prior training became chimney sweeps in the decade following the oil shock. Many of their companies are still thriving today. Chimney sweeping has become a multi-billion dollar business. How did this unique and picturesque service trade, which had nearly vanished after World War II, get re-established in American life? Who were the people that built it? Jim Gillam, retired publisher of The Chimney Sweep News and a former chimney sweep, introduces the innovators and visionaries who brought chimney sweeping into the modern era.