Rare jobs from distant times

Who needs a fletcher these days? Discover 10 long-gone professions

Image: Howard R. Hollem, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From milliners and stevedores to knocker-ups and fletchers, time has taken away a good number of trades. Social, economic, and technological changes, along with the emergence of new consumer habits, have led to the disappearance of certain jobs that were once popular and profitable. Here is a list of 10 English words describing occupations and professions that are rare or have become obsolete but will certainly leave you speechless.

Image: Patrick Fore

Did you know that women were in charge of the ale brewing process before industrialization? And they even had a special name for their profession: alewife. An alewife was a woman who kept an ale-house, that is, a brewster. There are records of the use of the word in England dating back to 1393.

Throughout the Middle Ages, before the Black Death struck Europe, it was considered a female profession that helped women earn extra income. Although this job was later taken over by men, until about the 17th century some women still continued to brew for both domestic and commercial use.

Image: José Ramírez

Long before fast fashion and industrial mass production, people used to take care of their shoes as if they were gold. If something happened to them and they had to fix them, they would go to a cobbler. The word derives from Middle English cobeler, cobelere which meant "mender of shoes."

Originally, the term cobbler was used pejoratively to refer to those who were not very good at their trade. Over time, it came to be used for those who only mended shoes to differentiate them from shoemakers.

Image: Lia Den

You probably know what a fishmonger is, but what about a costermonger? In medieval London, costermongers were street apple sellers. The term appeared in written English for the first time in the 16th century. It is derived from the words costard —an apple variety— and monger, meaning seller. Over time the term was extended to any fruit and vegetable vendor who roamed the towns pushing carts or carrying baskets.

Costermongers were especially popular during the Victorian era. It is believed that at the time there were between 30,000 and 45,000 costermongers in London. Unfortunately, in the second half of the 20th century, they began to decline and their famous melodic sales poems and chants disappeared from the streets.

Image: RDNE Stock project

Ok, this is not a profession that is necessarily extinct, but you may know it by another name: Hatter or hat maker. The word milliner dates back to the 16th century and originally meant someone from Milan. It referred to Italian merchants who sold everything from hats to gloves and jewelry.

Over time, the term expanded, and starting in the 18th century it was more closely related to women who made bonnets and other accessories. By the early 20th century it is believed that there were more than 80,000 people, mostly women, working as milliners in New York alone.

Image: Ales Krivec

During the Industrial Revolution, in countries like Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands, a large mass of workers had to report to work at specific times. But there was a problem: Clocks were expensive and inaccessible to the working class. Luckily, a new profession emerged, the knocker-up or knocker-upper, who was in charge of waking people up every morning so they could get to work on time.

This job was usually done by pregnant women and older men. Knocker-uppers used a cane or stick to bang on their customers’ doors. Others used pea shooters. It was a fairly profitable profession until the mid-20th century, although in some towns of industrial England, you could still see knockers-up walking the streets in the 1970s.

Image: Lewis Hine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a stevedore is "one who works at or is responsible for loading and unloading ships in port." The term was borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish and introduced into English by sailors. In the United States, the words longshoreman or dockworker are more common.

Stevedores have existed since ancient times but their role has evolved through time. In the Medieval period, dockworkers played a crucial role, but they were especially important during the Industrial Revolution when trade volumes increased exponentially. Nowadays, this job is close to extinction, and the few stevedores remaining mostly move around big containers through heavy machinery.

Image: The New York Public Library

It seems that taxes have always been a touchy subject. Do you know what tax collectors were called in medieval England? Catchpoles. The word is a combination of Old English cace, "catch" and medieval Latin pullus, meaning _"_chicken." It turns out that in popular belief, tax debtors were as difficult to catch as a cheeky hen on a farm.

In the early days of this profession, chatchpoles were freelancers who charged a commission on the debt they managed to collect. And for that, they used any method they considered necessary. Later, their job became official and they began to work directly for the bailiff, leaving behind their more violent ways.

Image: Markus Winkler

This profession is now a bit different and has a different name, however, it was an important trade during the Middle Ages. A draper was a seller of cloth, especially fabric that was used to make garments. The first known use of the term in English is from the 14th century and derives from Old French draper, "to weave, make cloth."

Some historians regard this period as the birth of fashion due to the increase in fabric production. Clothing was no longer considered a mere utilitarian good but began to carry a symbolic capital. In this sense, it is no coincidence that the profession of draper became so popular and profitable around this time.

Image: Carl Tronders

Although today it may be hard to believe that this was a profession, it was very popular in England during the 18th and 19th centuries. If you read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein you probably know what we are talking about. In those days, resurrectionists were commonly employed by anatomists to exhume the bodies of the recently dead for research.

Due to advances in science, corpses were a commodity in high demand. While this job was not well regarded, technically the resurrectionists were not doing anything illegal because the bodies were not considered anyone's property. However, the rise of gangs and the increase in murders meant that the trade began to disappear, and by the 1850s it no longer existed.

Image: Gioele Fazzeri

The first recorded use of the term fletcher dates back to the 14th century. It derives from the French word flèche, which means "arrow". In the Middle Ages, fletchers were in charge of making arrows, which were the number one chosen battlefield weapon at the time.

Perhaps pursuing a career as a fletcher today doesn't make much sense, but back then they were in high demand. An army going to war might have needed to take hundreds of thousands of arrows with them, so they needed trained men who could make them of good quality. By all accounts, a talented fletcher could produce up to 10 arrows per hour. Sounds like a lot, don’t you think?

ARTSY THIEFS

10 Daring Art Heists That Stunned The World

Image: Eric TERRADE

Despite the fact that stealing art is arguably just as bad as any common crime, art heists have always captivated the imagination of the public, and the complex feats of these sophisticated robbers are depicted in countless movies and books. These audacious crimes often involve meticulous planning, intricate schemes, and sometimes, even a dash of glamour.

From masterpieces swiped in seconds to robberies that still baffle authorities, here are 10 of the most sensational museum and artwork thefts that have captured the world's attention.

Image: Kameron Kincade

Who said pirates couldn’t be art lovers? The daring theft of Hans Memling’s "The Last Judgment" was the first art heist to be recorded in history, and it took place in the sea, of all places. The religious painting was aboard a ship bound for Florence, Italy, when it was boarded by a Polish privateer called Paul Beneke, who proceeded to steal the painting among other valuables. The best part is that the painting ended up being blatantly displayed in the Basilica of the Assumption in Gdańsk, despite Italy’s efforts to get it back.

Image: Michael Fousert

Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is today the most famous painting in the world, so it's no surprise that it's been the target of theft. But in 1911 few people had heard of it, and the legendary painting was by no means as well guarded as now. When an Italian handyman was contracted by the museum he impulsively stole the masterpiece, hiding it in his apartment for over two years before it was recovered in Italy. Curiously, this theft was what actually made the painting world famous, so it wasn’t all bad in the end.

Image: George Ciobra

In 1961, Britain’s national hero went missing from the National Gallery in London, and authorities were baffled. The thief turned out to be a retired bus driver called Kempton Bunton, who climbed through a window of the National Gallery, grabbed the Duke, and proceeded to straightforwardly leave the premises with the painting under his arm. Maybe museum security measures weren’t exactly bulletproof back then.

Image: Hanyang Zhang

In one of the most infamous art heists in history, thieves disguised as police officers stormed Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, gagging the museum’s security guards and making off with 13 priceless artworks, including works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Degas. To this day, the pieces - valued at hundreds of millions of dollars - remain missing and the museum displays empty frames where the paintings used to be, in a haunting reminder of the unfortunate incident.

Image: Steven van Deursen

In 1994, two men broke into Oslo's National Gallery, making off with Edvard Munch's "The Scream." The thieves even mocked the museum’s anti-theft measures with a note that said: "Thanks for the poor security." While the painting was recovered later that year, that was not the last of the adventures of Munch’s iconic piece. Ten years later, in a brazen daylight robbery, armed thieves stormed Oslo's Munch Museum, snatching "The Scream" again together with "Madonna," another painting by the same artist. Again, the paintings were recovered but suffered some damage during the whole ordeal.

Image: Frans Ruiter

In 2002, during early morning hours, two thieves made use of a ladder to break into the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam through the roof. In a lightning-fast robbery, they stole two paintings and fled: Vincent van Gogh’s "View of the Sea at Scheveningen" and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen," valued at $30 million dollars. Fortunately, both pieces were recovered in 2016, but the theft highlighted the vulnerability of even the most prestigious institutions.

Image: Meizhi Lang

In a bold overnight heist, a lone thief broke into Paris's Modern Art Museum and made off with five paintings worth an estimated €100 million. In a Hollywood-worthy move, the man entered the gallery by removing a glass pane without breaking it and still managed to elude the three guards on duty inside. The burglar, aptly nicknamed "Spiderman" for his acrobatic feats, was captured afterward, but the paintings were unfortunately never recovered.

Image: Diane Picchiottino

Seven artworks, including pieces by Picasso, Matisse, and Monet, were stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal Museum in a meticulously planned heist. The museum’s alarm system went off during the robbery, but the thieves escaped before the police arrived. The thieves were eventually caught, but the paintings are still missing - and authorities suspect they were destroyed by the mother of one of the thieves in an effort to protect her son.

Image: rc.xyz NFT gallery

While not focused on art, this audacious heist involved the theft of millions of pounds worth of jewels and other valuables from safe deposit boxes in London's Hatton Garden district. The theft was meticulously planned by a group of six elderly men - all experienced thieves - earning them the nickname of "Bad Grandpas." But it seems that crime never pays, as they were all quickly arrested afterward.

Image: Nodir Khalilov

In 2019, the Green Vault museum in Dresden suffered a devastating blow when thieves infiltrated its Jewel Room, making off with priceless jewels and artifacts dating back to the 18th century. The thieves not only disabled alarms and streetlights by burning down a power box but also had to cut through iron bars and a reinforced window to gain entry, showing that there was quite a bit of planning behind the theft. Despite a series of arrests being made in connection to the robbery, only a portion of the stolen items were recovered.