A lamplighter is a person employed to light and maintain candle or, later, gas street lights. Very few exist today as most gas street lighting has long been replaced by electric lamps. Function Lights were lit each evening, generally by means of a wick on a long pole. At dawn, the lamplighter would return to put them out using a small hook on the same pole. Early street lights were generally candles, oil, and similar consumable liquid or solid lighting sources with wicks. Other duties Another lamplighter duty was to carry a ladder and renew the candles, oil, or gas mantles. In some communities, lamplighters served in a role akin to a town watchman; in others, it may have been seen as little more than a sinecure. In the 19th century, gas lights became the dominant form of street lighting. Early gaslights required lamplighters, but eventually systems were developed which allowed the lights to operate automatically. Today Today a lamplighter is an extremely rare job. In Brest as a tourist attraction a lamplighter has been employed since 2009 to light up the kerosene lamps in the shopping street every day. A small team of lamplighters still operate in London, England where gas lights have been installed by English Heritage. In the European Union, there are only two cities where lamplighters are still on duty. Zagreb in Croatia and Wroclaw in Poland. In Waikiki, Hawaii, lamplighters in traditional Hawaiian costumes run along the shore and light gas torches in the evening. Frank Serpico, an NYPD whistleblower, prefers to use the term "lamp-lighter" to describe the whistleblower's role as a watchman. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a spy novel written by John le Carré, refers to Lamplighters as a section of British Intelligence that provided surveillance and couriers. Lamplighter's Serenade is a song written by Hoagy Carmichael. It was recorded by Frank Sinatra during his first session as a solo artist, on 19 January 1942. Bing Crosby also recorded a version of the song just days later. The Old Lamp-Lighter is another song; its music was written by Nat Simon, the lyrics by Charles Tobias. The song was published in 1946. Jack the Lamplighter is a character in the film Mary Poppins Returns. Modern outdoors usage In the late-19th and 20th centuries, most cities with gas streetlights replaced them with new electric streetlights. For example, Baltimore, the first US city to install gas