Growing up in an small town in Michigan in the 70's & 80's.
We had an chimney sweep guy.
Is that still a thing?
There were a lot of people burning wood for heat but not coal.
@Alice_UnChained
When I was living in remote Alaskan bush we would "dragonize" the stove pipe. I'm sure you can imagine what that means.
Basically burning the Creosote out.
If you did it often enough there would never be enough soot to start a fire. Not too many chimney sweep in those areas made it an cost effective method to clear the soot out.
@fatslothslim
It’s still a thing. A necessary thing if you live in higher elevations with lots of snow.