mbarrick | And now, from the "things that still exist despite their original purpose being lost to the…

And now, from the "things that still exist despite their original purpose being lost to the past" file: the cross beams on lamp posts that we hang decorative banners from were for lamplighters to lean their ladders on. Image: George P. Lewis (1875–1926), "A female gas worker cleaning and lighting street lamps in Britain" from "The Employment of Women on the Home Front, 1914-1918". Collection of the Imperial War Museums, Ministry of Information First World War Official Collection (UK).
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