Astonishing and Extinct Professions: 89 Jobs You Will Never Do

by Markus Rottmann, Michael Meister (Illustrator), Ashley Curtis (Translator)

Overview

The jobs we've lost are windows into the past

Gladiators fought for glory. Ice harvesters chopped up lakes. In the USA, human computers, called rocket women, calculated the paths of the spaceships with pen and paper.

All these jobs really existed. Now they are gone. This is a book of extraordinary periods in history on six continents. It spans the centuries of the professional fartists and the walking toilets, of the brave riders of the Pony Express, and the lazy ornamental hermits. Marvel at Germany’s feared coffee detectives and London’s dreaded executioners.

The stories behind: Mandarins, Wailing women, Body snatchers, Executioners, Whipping boys, Explorers, Walking toilets, Object swallowers, Fartists, Powder monkeys, Armpit-hair pluckers and many more...

Silver Medal winner of the California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award 2023

Nominated for the Children's Literature Association of Utah Beehive Awards 2025

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783907293935
Publisher:	Helvetiq
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	12.99(w) x 9.45(h) x 0.00(d)
Lexile:	IG870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Markus Rottmann lives in Zurich, Switzerland with his wife and young daughter and writes for books, magazines, the stage and museums. He collaborates with photographers, directors, illustrators, artists and, recently, with a magician. He writes a regular column on mountain literature and has even produced and audio guide to the Zurich cemetery.

Michael Meister an award-winning Swiss illustrator. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and many other publications around the world. He has illustrated five books, including Swisstory (Bergli Books, 2019), which won The Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. He lives with his family near Basel, Switzerland.

Ashley Curtis was born in California and grew up in Bern, Switzerland, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has have lived in Switzerland for the last 25 years. He holds B.A. and M.A.R. degrees from Yale Universityand is the author of Alles ist beseelt(Kommode Press, 2021), Hexeneinmaleins (Kommode Press, 2019), Error and Loss: A License to Enchantment (Kommode Press, 2018), “O Switzerland!” (Bergli Books, 2018), and Why Do the Swiss Have Such Great Sex? Extraordinary Answers to 66 Improbable Questions about Switzerland (Bergli Books, 2018). 

Table of Contents

1. Abtrittanbieter (Walking Toilets) 
2. Wet Nurses 
3. Balladeers 
4. Ice Harvesters 
5. Candle Trimmers 
6. Festival Pyrobolists 
7. The Riders of the Pony Express 
8. Pneumatic Post Office Clerks 
9. Tower Watchmen 
10. Fullones (Urine Washers) 
11. Water Carriers 
12. Waker-Uppers 
13. Home Brewers 
14. Leech Collectors 
15. Airplane Detectors 
16. Gladiators 
17. Coffee Sniffers 
18. Herb Strewers 
19. Fartists 
20. Lantern Bearers 
21. Elevator Operators 
22. Milkmen 
23. Plague Doctors 
24. Whipping Boys 
25. Ornamental Hermits 
26. Sedan Chair Carriers 
27. Video Rental Clerks 
28. Quatorzièmes (Fourteenth Guests) 
29. Tasters 
30. Factory Readers 
31. Itinerant Preachers 

Editorial Reviews

"Bold, almost caricature-eqsue, cartoony illustrations capture the gamut of professions featured in this Swiss import, from the bleak, beak-wearing plague doctor to the showy festival pyrobolists." – Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2023-05-24
Can you imagine what people once did for a living?

From “walking toilets” to balladeers “who belted out the daily news,” Rottmann covers dozens of professions that were once perhaps not popular but possible. Short entries ranging in length from one to three pages describe each profession and when and why it died out. Callouts illuminate noteworthy facts, provide historical or social context, or give more logistical details. Some jobs could be found in multiple cultures and countries; a few crossed gender lines. Some, like bematists (step counters who measured vast distances), disappeared due to advancements in technology and tools (hodometers in this case). Others went out of vogue with changing social, geological, or political dynamics: “What people find useful is always changing. So, certain professions disappear, but new ones come into being.” Alchemists fell out of favor, superseded by chemists; natural historians, biologists, archaeologists, and professional treasure hunters are modern-day explorers. Rottmann notes that some jobs, such as professional mourners, might be making a comeback. Bold, almost caricature-esque, cartoony illustrations capture the gamut of professions featured in this Swiss import, from the bleak, beak-wearing plague doctor to the showy festival pyrobolists. Occasional anecdotes provide wry commentary—alchemists brewed Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, an elixir of life only to accidentally kill him with poisonous mercury. A handful of summary spreads break up the selection of extinct professions.

An entertaining, brief survey of professions past. (Nonfiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews