Going back to the 1960's,during the winter months my grand dad would get up early and keep the fire in,i remember him raking the coals just enough to keep them going,and then later on he would add more coal and draw it by using the News of the World.Seems me grand dad was into a bit of bushcrafting and he didn't even know it.
We had a gas poker. It literally plugged into the gas mains with a bayonet fitting at the side of the fireplace. Lit with a match and pushed into the coals to start the fire.
Before we had that we rolled up newspapers into paper stick kindling, and yes, used a sheet of newspaper to draw the fire