“NEW SERIES: Victorian Childhood - The Crimes That Were Legal. He’s 5 and on fire inside a chimney. Tommy is a Climbing boy—child chimney sweep in London. Climbs inside chimneys to clean soot. Naked. Pitch darkness. Chimney 18 inches wide. He’s stuck 20 feet up. Can’t turn around. Can’t go back. His master lit fire below to ‘encourage him to climb faster.’ Smoke rises. Heat intensifies. Tommy screams but nobody hears. He’s stuck—elbows and knees jammed. Fire below gets hotter. Smoke fills his lungs. Can’t breathe. He’ll suffocate in 10 minutes. Or burn alive. Whichever comes first. Master retrieves body tomorrow. Charges homeowner for new sweep. Tommy cost £3. Easily replaced. London, 1835. When 5-year-olds burned alive in chimneys. And it was legal. Drop a 🔥 for Tommy and the climbing boys. Part 1 of ‘Victorian Childhood: The Crimes That Were Legal.’” #VictorianChildhood #CrimesThatWereLegal #ChildLaborHistory #VictorianLondon #ChimneySweep