Why are chimney sweeps lucky?

Answer 1

Chimney sweeps work in dangerous, filthy conditions. One can imagine they would need a good deal of "luck" not to fall or become ill or suffer other disasters. Yet as chimney sweeps clearly survived for years and trained their children in the trade, it came to be thought that their prosperity had to be due to luck as opposed to skill or intelligence. By encouraging that belief, chimney sweeps could add mystique and a bit of glamor ... and perhaps a bit more profit ... to an otherwise wretched job.