Before and after the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil, in 1500, the indigenous people (people) used firelight (bonfires) and the light of the moon as a way to illuminate their nights. There is no record of another form of lighting used at the time.
The Portuguese brought with them the forms of lighting used in Europe, such as the lamp based on vegetable or animal oils. Olive oil was one of the most used, but it was only manufactured in Europe, so it had high costs, only a noble elite used it.
With the high cost of olive oil, it was quickly replaced by other oils manufactured in Brazil, such as coconut and castor oil (mainly). Subsequently, oils derived from animal fat (mainly fish) were produced and candles made from fats and beeswax (products that were not used in the homes of the poor), due to the high price.
Until the 18th century, there was no public lighting – at times of parties and celebrations, the population lit the facades of houses with candles made of tallow and grease. In the 19th century, some Brazilian cities started to be lit with whale oil lamps. In the city of Rio de Janeiro, public lighting based on vegetable and animal oils was implemented in 1794.
In São Paulo, the use of oils as public lighting only arrived in the year 1830. It is noteworthy that employees were needed to turn on the lights on the streets of cities daily. In 1854, São Paulo was the first Brazilian city to implement gas lighting – this service remained in the city until mid-1936, when the last lamps were turned off.
The city of Campos, in Rio de Janeiro, was the first city to have electricity on the streets, due to the presence of a thermoelectric plant, since 1883. Rio Claro, in São Paulo, was the second city to have electricity on the streets, also due to the presence of a thermoelectric power plant. The city of Rio de Janeiro only implemented the electric light service on the streets in 1904; and São Paulo, in the following year, in 1905.
Other cities, such as Juiz de Fora, Curitiba, Maceió, among others, implemented the electric public lighting service long before Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. But the implementation of electric light in the streets did not completely replace gas lamps - these were being replaced by few, coexisting at the same time in cities with electric light and gas lamps, that is, modernization together with the old one.
Public lighting was very important for cities, due to the growth of urbanization and problems generated by this growth, such as the lack of infrastructure in cities (sewage, water treated).
Currently, the lack of public lighting in the streets contributes a lot to the practice of crimes. The darkness and lack of lighting harm citizens, who, usually, because of work or study, end up walking on the streets at night. The lack of public lighting in city streets significantly contributes to the lack of security of the city population.
By Leandro Carvalho
Master in History
