Saturday, September 20, 2008

Happy Brush

Wikipedia says that the occupation of chimney sweep "is considered to be one of the oldest in the world," along with, I guess, the other obvious one that comes to mind. Wikipedia also says that in parts of Great Britain it is considered lucky for a bride to see a chimney sweep on her wedding day. It is also considered good luck to shake hands with a chimney sweep or to be blown a kiss by one. Here it's considered good luck to rub one of your buttons if you pass one in the street. This fellow was selling little key chain brushes (100 dinars=$2.00), so I bought one. And he let me take his photo, though he didn't blow me a kiss, darn.

Note: "Srećna" means both "happy" and "lucky" here, so I think his shirt should really be translated "Lucky Brush," since chimney sweeps bring you good luck...or maybe he really is just happy when people buy a keychain brush from him...

15 comments:

Virginia said...

Well that's a new one. Haven't thought about chimney sweeps since "Mary POppins."

Ken Mac said...

a true artisan.

Louis la Vache said...

"Louis" hopes this brings you both happiness and good luck!

Webradio said...

Bonjour Bibi !
Jolis rappels pour les légendes du ramoneur...
En France, il n'y en a plus beaucoup de ramoneurs, et les cheminées deviennent sales et dangereuses...
A plus tard.
--------------
Hello Bibi!
Nice reminders to the legends of the chimney sweep ...
In France, there are a lot of chimney sweeps and get dirty stacks and dangerous ...
See you later.

soulbrush said...

chimney sweeps and mary poppins are so interconnected....and supercalafragalisticexpialidoscoius

Maria said...

Hallo Bibi,
I also live at the bank of the Danube!
Here in Vienna, it is also considered good luck to rub one of your buttons if you pass a chimney sweep in the street!
Funny to see that the autumn wheater has also reached Belgrade!

I am happy to have found your blog because I always wanted to know how the Danube looks in Belgrade. I had seen a city map once and the banks of the river looked very natural and seems to be much more integrated into the city than it is in Vienna! And now I see that you post a houseboat! :)
Have a nice weekend!

Thérèse said...

They don't look like that anymore over here, too bad!
Have a peaceful weekend Bibi.

Marie Reed said...

Doesn't this sweep look like bil murray? he realy does!!!

Marie Reed said...

i wrote an article a while back about sweeps! http://www.cpaphilblog.com/search?q=chimney+sweep

Dan said...

I agree with marie reed, he looks just like Bill Murray. I wonder how all these legends have gotten associated with Chimney Sweeps?

Riccardo said...

In my region there are strong laws about having homes checked regularly but chimney sweeps.
So if in the past it was a poor job, now they're really a lobby!!!
And they're very very modern. Micro cams for inspections... mini computer to analyze smokes...
A good well paid (in my region) job!!!

MuseSwings said...

Bill Murray - that's a hoot. You've got me singing the Chimney Sweep song in my head. Problem is I don't know the words so it's mostly like this: Chimney Sweep Chimney Sweep lalalal lala etc.

DeniseinVA said...

Great post and I have enjoyed your blog very much. It was good luck for a new bride in the UK to be given a silver cardboard cut out of a horseshoe with a silk ribbon to hold it around your wrist, and attached to it was a black velvet shape of a chimney sweep. I had one at my wedding. I think I still have it in a box somewhere.

Reader Wil said...

I like your blog. Love these sayings about chimneysweeps too.

Becky said...

Of course, I had to say something about Mary Poppins here. The first Disney movie I ever watched. "Chim-chiminee, chim-chiminee, chim, chim, cher-oo, good luck will rub off, when oi shakes 'ands wif you. Or blow me a kiss, and that's lucky, too!"

Fantastic story with your picture today.

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.