Top 5 Bizarre Jobs That Actually Existed in History

Today’s world offers its fair share of odd jobs, but the past was home to some truly strange professions—many of which seem utterly absurd by modern standards. These weren’t gimmicks or side hustles; they were real, often respected, sometimes dangerous roles that reflected the customs, superstitions, and technological limitations of their time. From corpse whisperers to human alarm clocks, these bizarre historical jobs paint a vivid picture of how differently people once lived and worked.

Long before alarm clocks were a household item, people had to rely on others to wake them up—enter the “knocker-up.” Popular in 19th and early 20th century Britain and Ireland, this profession involved walking around neighborhoods in the early hours of the morning and tapping on windows with a long stick or pea shooter to rouse sleeping workers. Knocker-ups had to be precise with their timing and often worked in the dead of night to ensure factory and dock workers weren’t late. Ironically, they themselves didn’t usually have anyone to wake them up, so they had to be both disciplined and reliable. Though rendered obsolete by the rise of affordable clocks, this job is a quirky reminder of how vital punctuality once was to industrial life.

In centuries past, particularly in rural parts of Britain and Wales, there existed a deeply eerie role known as the “sin-eater.” When someone died, families would hire a sin-eater to consume food and drink placed on the chest of the deceased, symbolically absorbing their sins and allowing the soul to pass on purified. It was believed that the sins would transfer into the food, and thus into the sin-eater. These individuals were seen as spiritually necessary yet socially outcast—they performed a holy service but were thought to be spiritually tainted by the sins they carried. Paid in bread and ale, sin-eaters often lived lonely, stigmatized lives. The job faded out in the 19th century as religious views shifted, but its ritualistic eeriness lingers in folklore.

In royal courts, particularly in 15th and 16th century England, the children of kings and nobles were considered too important to be punished directly—even if they disobeyed or failed in their studies. That’s where the “whipping boy” came in. This child was educated alongside a prince and received physical punishment in his place, under the assumption that the prince would feel guilty seeing his friend suffer and improve his behavior. The logic was more emotional than disciplinary—and unfortunately for the whipping boy, it depended on how much the prince actually cared. As strange as it sounds, this role was real and documented in royal households, vanishing only when more modern ideas of discipline and equality in education emerged.

In the days when bloodletting was a common medical treatment, leeches were in high demand. That demand created the job of the “leech collector,” whose task was to wade into marshes, bogs, and swamps and lure leeches onto their bare legs. Once the bloodsuckers latched on, they’d be picked off and stored for sale to apothecaries and physicians. The job was not only disgusting but dangerous—some collectors suffered blood loss or infections, and overharvesting eventually drove leech populations to near extinction in some areas. Still, these brave (or desperate) workers played a key role in the bizarre medical practices of the time, until modern medicine rendered their services largely obsolete.

If you think your job stinks, spare a thought for the “gong farmer.” In Tudor England, cities lacked sewer systems, and most households relied on cesspits. Gong farmers were responsible for cleaning these out—literally shoveling human waste in the dead of night and carting it outside the city walls. Though the pay was relatively good, the dangers were immense: toxic gases, disease, and the constant social stigma of handling filth. They often worked in teams and sometimes had to be lowered into pits with ropes. Some even died from suffocation due to the buildup of fumes. Despite the revolting nature of their job, gong farmers were essential to keeping urban centers livable before sanitation reform changed the world.