Tap, Tap, Tap: The Knocker-Uppers

Tap, Tap, Tap: The Knocker-Uppers

1Today, most people wake up to the beep of an alarm clock or a phone. But about two hundred years ago, alarm clocks were rare and cost more than most families could pay. So how did workers get up on time? In many towns in Britain and Ireland, they paid a knocker-upper.

2During the 1800s, many factories and mills were built in these towns. The machines ran on a strict schedule, and each group of workers had a set period of work, called a shift. A worker who arrived late might lose part of a day's pay or even lose the job. Being on time mattered.

3A knocker-upper's job was to walk the dark streets before sunrise and wake people up. Many carried a long pole, often made of bamboo, so they could reach the windows of upstairs bedrooms. They tapped on the glass until a sleepy face appeared. Some used a pea shooter and puffed dried peas at the window instead. Most knocker-uppers did not move on until the customer showed that he or she was awake.

4Each customer paid a small fee every week. A knocker-upper had a route with many houses, and the houses did not all need waking at the same time. A miner might need to be up at four o'clock, while a mill worker could sleep until five. The knocker-upper had to keep track of every time and plan the route carefully.

5People sometimes joked, "Who wakes up the knocker-upper?" The answer is that many knocker-uppers worked through the night and went to bed in the morning, after their rounds were done.

6In time, alarm clocks became cheaper. More families could buy a clock of their own, and fewer people needed someone tapping at the window. By the middle of the 1900s, the job had mostly disappeared. Today, the knocker-upper is remembered as one of the many jobs that kept busy towns running.