Astonishing and Extinct Professions

Coffee Smellers, Gladiators and Other Unbelievable Professions that Really Existed

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 of the lazy ornamental hermits. Marvel at Germany’s feared coffee detectives and London’s dreaded executioners.

The stories behind these more than 100 extinct professions open gateways to the secrets of the past: Why did we need whipping boys? Why were people paid to collect leeches on their legs? How did people wake up on time before they had alarm clocks? And what were tower watchmen watching for?

A most surprising book about why people did things no one should ever do.

About the Author

Markus Rottmann lives in Zurich 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, 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).