Strange Jobs Of The Past: Is Your Job Crazy?

By A.M. Uygongco | Dec 26, 2016 10:58 AM EST

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Your job may not be the craziest one you know because there is a list of peculiar occupations that used to exist; some of them range from understandable to outlandish. Let us start with what can be considered normal and work our way up.

First, according to the Huffington Post, there used to be a title called Newspaper Reader. A Newspaper Reader in today’s day and age can refer to anybody who reads newspapers and follows current events avidly.

In the 1920s, however, Newspaper Readers were people hired to read the news out loud in order to provide entertainment to the humdrum and boring day at a factory. These individuals have been presently replaced with radios and television, as well as other devices such as iPods and stereos.

Secondly, there were Town Criers who, prior to the arrival of newspapers of radios, shout out the latest news, proclamations, and announcements as they walk down the street. You may have seen one when a royal birth was announced.

A third strange job is being a Plague Doctor in the 1650s. Of course, Plague Doctors at the time were not considered peculiar and could even be called brave and courageous.

Plague Doctors were the hardworking souls that endeavored to cure the infected. According to the news website, they wore beak shaped masks that were stuffed with herbs to filter the air they breathe, making them look a tad bit funny.

There also used to be Leech Collectors. These were not persons who simply gather and keep leeches as pets or as interesting decorations in one’s garden. These collectors were hired to wade into small bodies of water and use their legs as bait to attract leeches. After the leeches were collected, it would be given to doctors who would use it for medical ailments and other diseases.

Lastly, there were Resurrectionists. These are not people parading as Jesus Christ and go about from town to town raising the dead back to life. These are individuals who legally dig up and unearth dead bodies, selling them afterward to medical schools for the latter to use as cadavers. Medical schools now get their cadavers from hospitals and not from desecrated graves.

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