If you were strapped for cash and were alive before the invention of color photography, these could have been the jobs for you! Mental Floss first reported on these oddball historic jobs. Career day at the local high school would have looked a whole lot different then!
1. If you lived around royalty and didn’t mind the sliminess, you could have been a Toad Doctor! These supposed medical professionals worked with 1800’s English royalty to cure them of their illnesses by harnessing the power of the toad. Doctors would keep toads in special pouches, which they would attach to the royal’s neck and supposedly help. There definitely no rubber gloves to use.
2. For the morning people out there, try being a Knocker-up! These people would wake up wealthy clients by knocking on their windows with tall sticks. This took place mostly in the Industrial Revolution, before the alarm clock completely eliminated this job.
3. If you want to make the best out of a stinky situation, one could apply to be the Groom of the Stool! These people would help the British monarchy literally do their business. Taking off all of those massive robes was clearly bigger than a one person job. Believe it or not, this position was highly coveted, as the Groom often advised the royals on political matters. I am so curious what the job interview for this sort of thing would have been like!
4. Don’t worry, children definitely could be employed in extremely dangerous jobs! Coal companies needed Breaker Boys, who would separate any impurities from the coal. This practice actually continued until the 1920s, when those pesky child labor laws were finally strong enough to eliminate this job.
5. If you were smart enough, why not become a literal human computer? People, usually women, would be employed in teams to solve complex mathematical equations for companies. Naturally, real computers eventually made this position irrelevant, but I feel like a lot of scientists use the same skills, so just become a scientist I guess?
