Strange past profession

"My Planet" has already written about plevatelyah turnips, labial tselovalniks and keeper of the royal restroom . We continue to talk about the strange occupations of the past.

Medvedchikov

Bear comedy starring the forest owner – a fairground entertainment, which was distributed in Russia, at least from the XVI century. However, in those years it was part of the so-called bear’s fun, which is considered the royal fun, though often arrange for ordinary people.

There were three types: a bear-baiting dogs fight a bear against a person or another bear and circus performances with bears. During all this entertainment was responsible individual – Medvedchikov, who also cared and looked after the clumsy. A directly involved in animal training povodchik, "variety" Medvedchikov. By the XVIII century bears involved mainly only fair festivities. But the profession povodchika remained the same – he led the beast on a chain or a ring in the nose (the bear was muzzled) and showed with the help of different tricks. Gawker threw money to povodchika feet, which was the reward for his labor. It is understood that the guide could become a clumsy fearless, tall and strong man in the prime of life, who also was familiar with the habits and mentality of forest owner. Often this was done by the Roma.

With bearish comedies related well-known saying, "led by the nose". The fact is that, holding a bear by the nose ring, Medvedchikov forced him to perform a variety of tricks to deceive the beast view some goodies

Man Service

This trade was destined, though short but bright life. She appeared in England and Ireland during the industrial revolution, which happened in the last third of the XVIII century. In those days, factory and manufactory were already built, and therefore, a working class appeared, from which it was necessary to be punctual and hardworking. Well, if the employee was a neighbor, who get up early and wake him up, but if not? Then Knocker-Up came to the rescue (to Knock Up – "Wake up a knock"). Armed with a stick to knock in the windows of tenants on the first floors, as well as long light cans or wind tubes and dry peas, to shoot higher windows, these people went through the streets and walked their customers.

In order not to confuse the addressee, the alarms put small labels on the wall of the house. Attempts to fire around the windows did not stop while Sonya did not give a signal that he woke up. For such work, we paid a little – several pence a week, so it was mostly engaged in older people or children. The profession began to disappear in the 1920s, the time of electrification and growth of incomes of the population, which from now on could afford a mechanical alarm clock appeared in the middle of the XIX century.

In the novel of Charles Dickens "High Hope" there is a brief description of the work of the alarm. And one of the most famous Knocker-Up was a resident of London Mary Smith, which used spoilers in her work. They say she easily got into the right window not only on the third, but also on the fourth floor

Reader at production

Lecturer, who read out loud workers in the factory, artwork, poems, newspapers or simply texts of an entertainment nature – another product of the industrial revolution, which existed literally around the world. Noble, by the way, task, because the workflow in those years was quite monotonous, since smart cars have not yet invented.

They paid Lekkera or workers themselves, or plant management. Several demands were presented to the reader: loud voice, clear diction and artistry. As a rule, they became men who are more common in those days than women who knew how to read. The profession was pleasant in all respects: simple, rather highly paid, except that it was necessary to protect the bundle and avoid colds.

Over time, the readers began to "pinch": at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, instead of artistic works, they began to process labor people with the help of campaign literature – for an additional fee from political movements. It is not surprising that the management of factories and factories has become massively abandoning their services. However, with the advent of radio in the 1920s, the profession has already been doomed.

The readers in Cuba used. Probably, therefore, the profession exists there until now, and its variety – the reader on the tobacco factory – noted a few years ago his 150th anniversary. It is believed that on the island of freedom, such lecturers appeared at the end of 1865 on the tobacco factory EL FIGARO. On the occasion of the round date, the Cuban government even appealed to UNESCO with a request to make this profession in the country’s cultural heritage list, which was fulfilled. Today, more than 300 professional readers work in Cuban tobacco factories, which relate to civil servants. They work only 90 minutes a day, and the rest of the time is used to prepare materials, rehearsals and discusses read with workers

Executioner

Executions exist, probably as much as statehood there is, so the profession of the executioner is old as a world. She was already in ancient Egypt – the executioners were carried out there or simply throwing sentenced crocodiles. But in ancient Greece, convicted to death deprived himself the life of himself, for which he was given poison.

Over the citizens of an ancient Rome execution, special civil servants were carried out – liktors usually appointed from freeds. In medieval sources of Western Europe, the execution of the executioner is not mentioned until the X century – mostly the death penalty was replaced by the payment of monetary compensation to relatives of the victim of the criminal. Later, the profession of the executioner began to refer to the judicial system. Such a person was standing at the lowest stage of the social hierarchy, so he was forbidden to engage in other activities in addition to the main work – just as it was forbidden to change the profession and his sons (it is not surprising that there were entire Palaley dynasties). However, some part-time job of these people was still: they dried the authorities of the executed criminals and prepared from them all sorts of drugs, and then sold (in the Middle Ages it was believed that parts of the human body were able to heal. Read more about this in our study.)

Add to this another "bonus" – the executioner got the owner of the executed, so it was necessary to work as little as possible to not damage the fabric. Meanwhile, wearing this clothes were particularly nowhere: the executioners did not relieve in public places. However, they also needed something, which means to go to the market for products. I received food. completely free, since the sellers did not want to take "bloody money". Here is such a social package in exchange for dirty work and contempt of society.

In Russia, the execution of the execution is not, since there is no death penalty. But during the time of the USSR, where the execution was, the post of the executioner did not exist – a bullet in the temple of the convicted person was allowed, as a rule, the officer’s duty officer in the SIZO, for which the lot even rushed (they say, who wanted to be a full one). Naturally, no lessue years in the employment book did not mention. But in the US, where the death penalty is applied today, a special prison employee is responsible for it.

Interestingly, the mask of the executioner is rather myth. As a rule, executioners did not wear any masks. Yes, and why? Each in the city and so knew who is who. The stories are known only one reliable case when the executioner had a face closed – during the execution of the English king Charles I