10 extinct jobs you won’t believe people worked

A few hundred years from now the jobs we thrive at will be considered torture, nonsensical and rendered useless.

The noble pursuit of earning a living has historically been a dirty and sometimes deadly one.

Before we cry about being replaced by machines, millions of people lost their sources of income from what is today considered mundane technology.

Take these jobs for example:

1. Knockerupper

This was the name given to a human alarm clock. Before 1847 when the mechanical alarm clock was invented, people used to hire “knocker uppers” to wake them up in the morning. They would either tap the window with a pole or throw peas at the window glass.

2. Town crier

Since most people in medieval times were illiterate, the town crier was in charge of reading out loud news, and proclamations, among other information. He would then post the publication on the door of an inn. This is where some newspapers got their title “The Post”.

3. Lamplighter

Silhouettes of lamplighters would walk town streets at sundown and sunrise manually lighting and extinguishing gas-burning street lamps. They were extinguished from business by the electric light bulbs.

4. Switchboard operator

The earliest telephones were like playing slot machines to reach the person you wanted to talk to. The switchboard required tens of operators to help connect customers. These operators would sit for hours, switching cables and communicating with millions of phone users.

But even this gruelling task was a step up from factory work and domestic duties, especially for women who dominated this sector.

5. Nomenclator

Before the earpiece was invented, politicians back in the day used to employ a person to whisper the names of people the politicians didn’t know so that they appeared knowledgeable and personable. The nomenclator is also used to announce guests and people by name to hosts.

6. Human computer

Minute physics calculations at NASA and other organisations back in the day were done by humans. The calculations were done on graph paper and would last up to a week for airborne engineering.

In 1942, the job was made available to only females.

7. Scribe

Take a moment to crack your back and get in a good posture in memory of these backbreakers. Before printing, people were hired to copy manuscripts and other documents, including the Bible, word for word to other papers.

8. Castrato

When women were banned from theatre back in the 16th century, something sinister rose to fill the gap. These replacements were called “castrati” and were in high demand in Italian opera and often became celebrities.

They were young boys who underwent castration before puberty hit, to get adult voices. These voices were more powerful and reached feminine notes.

9. Food tasters

In ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, royal families employed people to taste the food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. However, soon the royals realised they didn’t want to have to wait days to eat a meal because some poisons take time to show effects.

10. Linkboy

Link boys were light-bearers in the dark streets of the 17th century. Before street lights became common, young boys would light their torches and accompany people from inns or other places in exchange for money.

Although this was a dangerous job for the boys, they were also a danger to their clients. Sometimes they led them into bad streets where robbers would be waiting.