Top 10 Bizarre Jobs That Were Popular In The Past

Most of these jobs are extinct now but they were very popular in the past when electricity and technology was unheard of.

1. The Court Jester

The court Jester was that person who was employed by the Royal Family and his job was to make sure that the king did not get bored. He would insult him and not get into trouble, unless of course the king did not find the joke too funny. The private comedian would therefore, live in fear.

2. Mudlarks and Toshers

Toshers were those people who swam and picked through sewers in the hope of finding some thing valuable that they could sell to make some money. The Mudlarks, on the other hand, picked through the banks of the rivers which meant that they came across dead bodies quite often.

3. The Human Alarm Clock

A knocker-up was basically a walking talking human alarm clock. This job was popular at a time when alarm clocks were either unreliable or unheard of. A knocker-up would poke sleeping people with bamboo sticks if they were too high up in a building and was allowed to leave only when he was sure that the client was up and about.

4. The Doctor with Toads

A skin disease was treated by doctors using toads at the time. They placed the amphibian or its leg in a cloth bag after which it was tied around the patient’s neck. The doctors were required to gather a good selection of toads and those who used just the legs would chop them off and collect those as well.

5. The Man Who Whipped Dogs

Many people walked to the church with their dogs during the 16^th century in Europe. A dog whipper’s job was to get rid of these dogs if they created commotion during the service in the church grounds. They would do so with the help of whippers or wooden tongs.

6. Resurrectionist

Medical schools were doing very well during the early 1800s in Europe which lead to the development of an industry that involved the theft of dead bodies. The resurrectionist’s job was to steal these bodies from graveyards and ship them off to the schools.

7. Fullers

To make woolen clothes, it is important to carry out a process called fulling so that impurities can be removed from the cloth and volume can be added to it. In the past, this process required the use of urine and the fullers were made to stand in large tubs which contained the cloth immersed in human urine.

8. Whipping Boy

This job existed during the 1600s when it was believed that princes could not be disciplined by anybody but the king. This made it very difficult for their tutors to control them. Therefore, a whipping boy was employed who would be punished if the prince did not follow orders or if he misbehaved.

9. The King’s Personal Servant

The Groom of the Stool was basically a servant employed by the king. His job was to clean his anus after he was done defecating. It was a highly sought after job at the time because it meant that the servant would get the King’s undivided attention several times during the day.

10. Gong Farmer

A gong farmer’s job was to collect human excreta from sewages all over town in England. His working hours began at 9 pm and ended at 5 am because he could only work after nightfall and before sunrise.