Decades before chimneys were available, my dad used to construct charcoal lighting "mechanisms" out of 3 lb. coffee cans that had a wire thru the bottom to hold a punctured lid of the can up above the newspaper for lighting....
When it lit the charcoal enough, he would reach down in with vise grips (heavy work glove on) and pull the wire out to "drop" the charcoal out the bottom, then grab the edge of the can and remove that secondly.......first "chimney" I ever saw.......a good 15-20 years ahead of it's time.....coals dropped onto a Weber charcoal grate, of coufse!!!