A forgotten profession, in the days before alarm clocks were widely affordable, people like Mary Smith of Brenton...
A forgotten profession, in the days before alarm clocks were widely affordable, people like Mary Smith of Brenton Street were employed to rouse sleeping people in the early hours of the morning. They were commonly known as ‘knocker-ups’ or ‘knocker-uppers.' Mrs. Smith was paid sixpence a week to shoot dried peas at market workers windows in Limehouse Fields, London. It started during and lasted well into the Industrial Revolution and at least as late as the 1920s, before alarm clocks were affordable or reliable.
I think "human alarm" might have been a better term:-)
ReplyDeleteAnything would have been better Ann..lol...:-))
ReplyDeleteMay I share this to Facebook? I don't know how to do it. Is amazing...
ReplyDeleteI don't see why not. All you have to do, is save the photo to your computer, and then when you get on facebook, just enter the photo file into the box, or window, that you would type into. I think that's all you have to do. :-)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of the pea-shooter method, very sophisticated. I always thought they simply knocked on doors and windows with sticks.
ReplyDeleteHave now read that "A knocker upper would sometimes also use a 'snuffer outer' as a tool to rouse the sleeping "
ReplyDeleteOf course! I mean the whole post. Thank you
ReplyDelete