12 Ridiculous Jobs That Thankfully Don’t Exist Anymore
Everyone complains about work every now and then. It’s impossible not to.
Most people are expected to undergo at least four career changes by the time they turn 32. For those of you looking for a new career path or just standing around the water cooler complaining about your current job, remember that thanks to technology and other advancements, the possibilities are endless. (After all, a “social media specialist” was not a thing a few years ago.)
Although we have our fair share of bizarre jobs, these 12 occupations from the past are pretty odd, too.
1. Rat Catcher
It’s pretty self-explanatory, but rat catchers would travel the streets of London during the Victorian Era, catching mice and rats with their bare hands. Sometimes, they used poison and terriers to help them out.
2. Body Snatcher
Also known as resurrectionists, body snatchers would dig up bodies from graves and sell them to medical schools.
3. Ornatrices
This is the Ancient Roman equivalent of a beautician. An ornatrice would be hired to ensure that members of the nobility were always up on the latest trends.
4. Barber-Surgeon
Barber shops still are quite popular today, but in the 1500s, your neighborhood barber would be responsible for trimming hair, removing lice, pulling teeth, and administering blood work. Fun.
5. Roman Orgy Planner
This takes party planning to the extreme. In Ancient Rome, orgy planners were in charge of planning every aspect of these sexual events. This included the guest lists, the food, and the locations of the orgies.
6. Litter Carrier
We’ve all seen royals making grand entrances in movies while being carried by four strong men. Luckily, this form of transportation was made obsolete by carriages.
7. Knock Knobbler
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Perhaps a boring job, knock knobbler’s were tasked with shooing stray dogs out of churches in Elizabethan times.
8. Computer
Believe it or not, before there were Macbook Pros or Dells, there were human beings that would perform all the tasks now associated with our laptops. NASA used to hire people for the job of “computer.” This female-dominated industry would require them to generate error-free mental calculations for hours at a time.
9. Groom of the Stool
These helpers, who aided the king with going to the bathroom, received their own places on the king’s court. That being said, it was still a crappy job.
10. Cat Meat Deliverer
Some lucky cats were able to have their meals delivered daily by a cat meat deliverer. They would go from slaughterhouse to slaughterhouse collecting meat scraps to serve to kitties belonging to wealthy families.
11. Lector
These factory workers were tasked with reading the news and other forms of literature aloud to the other employees over the course of the day.
12. Pinsetter
Prior to automatic resetting machines, bowling pins had to be set up manually.
See? Your job doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?
(via AllDay)
After all, just think about how horrible it’d be to scream the news in a noisy factory all day.
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