The Human Alarm Clock

Before alarm clocks were cheap and common, how did factory workers wake up on time?

In parts of Britain and Ireland, they paid a 'knocker-up'.

These early risers walked the streets before dawn, tapping on bedroom windows with a long stick until the person inside woke up.

Some even used a pea shooter to reach high windows. In some towns, the job lasted into the early 1900s and beyond.

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