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Astonishing and Extinct Professions
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01 August 2023

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
"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
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 University and 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).
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