10 Disgusting Victorian Jobs That Will Make You Appreciate Yours
In case you thought your boss gave you crap
Open any Dickensian novel, and you can travel back in time to a world of overflowing sewers, belching coal smoke, and cloudy opium dens. In many tragic tales, someone is dying of cholera or dysentery. There’s a reason for that.
By 1841, London’s population had exploded, and so had its cesspits. Sewers fermented with filth and drained into the river Thames. Streets stunk of horse manure, dead dogs, and urine. On the south bank of the Thames, skins and hides were tanned with horrible smelling urine and dog turds. Victorian London assaulted your nose.
By 1857, the water closet (toilet) became fashionable, and people no longer threw the contents of their chamber pots into the streets. But sanitation still had some snafus. These water closets emptied into the Thames, resulting in what became known as the Great Stink of 1858.
Something had to be done. Unfortunately, Victorians did not have trash collectors or landfills, so they had to get creative.
Here are a few dirty jobs that might make you appreciate your turd-less work responsibilities.
