Astonishing and Extinct Professions

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