The knocker upper

Until the 1970s in some areas, many workers were

woken by the sound of a tap at their bedroom
window. On the street outside, walking to their next
customer’s house, would be a figure wielding a long
stick.
The “knocker upper” was a common sight in Britain,
particularly in the northern mill towns, where people
worked shifts, or in London where dockers kept
unusual hours.
A knocker-upper would wake up around three in the
morning. He or she would then go around the town
to wake people up at the time they had requested.
Some knocker-uppers used long bamboo sticks with
a knock at the end to reach the windows on the
upper floors. Some of them used short batons to
knock on a front door. The most inventive knocker-
uppers used peashooters.
These professionals tried to concentrate on many
clients within short walking distance. This was
necessary to wake everyone at the requested time.
Consequently, the knocker-uppers exchanged clients
to cover as many houses as soon as possible. Each
knocker-upper served up to one hundred clients.
Certain knocker-uppers were knocking on the
window until the client signaled to be awake. Some
would knock only a few times and then proceed to
the next client.
Usually, the knocker-uppers were hired by
individuals. However, sometimes large companies,
such as mining companies, hired them. Thus, they
made sure everyone came to work on time. Some
clients would write the time to be wakened up on
special slate boards in front of their houses.
The knocker-uppers were paid one shilling per client
a week. The price of waking up depended on the
time and the distance to the dwellings of the clients.
Early hours such as 4 a.m. were more expensive than
waking hours between 5 and 6 a.m.
If a client missed paying the knocker-upper, the
client would be left to sleep, came to work too late,
and lose the job. So, everyone made sure they paid
their knocker-uppers!
By the 1950s, the profession of a knocker-upper
became obsolete because of alarm clocks.
Interestingly, in some parts of England, the
profession survived until the 1970s.
With all of the new technologies, old professions are
dying out and new ones are appearing.