The Knocker Upper and Other Jobs We No Longer Need

From the early 1800s to the 1960s, people were paid to wake other people up.

The need first developed in 19th century British mill towns where workers started their shifts at 6 am (or earlier). Having no alarm clocks, neighborhoods depended on a group of entrepreneurs who purchased watches that they then paid for with the fees they got from awakening entire neighborhoods. Called knocker uppers, they used bamboo poles or pea shooters to tap on windows. No one knocked on doors because the goal was to awaken a person, not everyone. Each client paid several pence a week for his taps.

As one man explained, “[The knocker upper] wouldn’t hang around either, just three or four taps and then he’d be off. We never heard it in the back, though it used to wake my father in the front.”

This video explains how the knocker uppers worked:

The knocker upper was not the only job we no longer need.

Today, during this Labor Day weekend, job markets continue to change.

Job Markets

Fastest Declining Jobs

You can see that we no longer need typists, roof bolters, and telephone operators:

Fastest Growing Jobs

Meanwhile, your future looks rosy if you are a wind turbine service technician or a nurse practitioner:

Our Bottom Line: Structural Change

Like the knocker uppers, a slew of jobs no longer exist. Bowling alleys used to need pinsetters and our elevators and phone systems were run by operators. At home, before the modern refrigerator, our ice was delivered several times a week.

As economists, we would call it structural change. Requiring new factors of production, structural change transforms our labor and our capital. Because structural change brings new skills and new technology, it can be a painful process for the job losers. However, the tradeoff is economic growth and new job markets.

My sources and more: During this Labor Day weekend, focusing on job markets, I especially enjoyed the 99% Invisible podcast on time yesterday when they introduced me to England’s knocker uppers. From there, the BBC and How To Be a Victorian had more. And finally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics had the data.

Our featured image of a knocker upper is from 99% Invisible. Please note also that several of today’s sentences were in a previous econlife post.