26Gondolier
One of the most sought-after jobs in Venice is that of a Gondolier. There are only 425 licenses issued, and applicants must be Venetian by birth. Apprenticeships involve over 400 hours of training, and when a Gondolier dies the license passes to the beneficiary, who then decides the replacement.
27. ‘White Monkey job’ refers to racially motivated jobs. In China, Caucasian foreigners are often hired to stand around and pretend to be an employee of the Chinese company or representative of an international company to increase the value of the Chinese company.
28. Vestal virgins were a group of 6 women who were recruited at the age of 6 to tend the flame of the Goddess Vesta in Ancient Rome. Expected to serve for 30 years, if their virginity ever came into question they would be buried alive as punishment.
29. Politicians in ancient Rome kept slaves named “nomenclators”, whose sole job was to remind their masters of the names and pertinent details of all the different people they met.
30. A whipping boy used to be a real job. King’s aides were forbidden to punish the prince, so they would give the prince a normal friend and take it out on him if the prince misbehaved. The prince would stay in line to stop his friend from being hurt.
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31Rat Catchers
In 2017, Paris’ rat catchers went on strike, partly over pay but mostly because they wanted more respect and recognition for their contributions to the city.
32. Wool togas in ancient Rome were cleansed by “fullers” working ankle deep in tubs full of human urine. In ancient Rome, the urine was taxed, collected, and prized for its ammonia which helped in whitening cloth.
33. “Mudlarks” were folks who scavenged the muddy rivers in London in the 18th and 19th centuries at low tide in order to sell anything they found.
34. Up until the 1970s, log drivers helped move huge tree trunks from the forest to sawmills for construction purposes. The job didn’t make the cut as modern transportation progressed.
35. Being a “Leech collector” used to be someone’s job. They'd collect them by walking into a body of water with exposed legs, letting them suck for a while, and then plucking them off. Medicinal leeches were thought of as medical miracles that would suck toxic blood and disease from the body.
