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All About Knocker-Ups: England’s Human Alarm Clocks
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Before Alarm Clocks, Knocker-Ups Helped People HOW THESE EARLY MORNING HEROES ROUSED THE SLEEPING
Knocker-ups were paid a few pence each week to wake their clients before work, and each knocker-up generally had a route full of clients to wake at different times. The thing is, they didn’t just stand at the door and knock. Knocker-ups became famous for using poles to tap on clients’ second-story bedroom windows. Some even attached soft hammers or rattles to the ends of the rods to create a more startling sound when they tapped. Typically, this job was taken on by older men who were past their working age or women who needed income to support their families. Police officers also considered this a good side job to earn extra money. Many of them simply completed their morning patrol, then stopped by to wake clients living along their regular routes.
Until the 1940s, alarm clocks were a luxury few people in the English working class could afford. Unfortunately, some of these devices could be unreliable and caused people to miss appointments or oversleep. This ultimately gave birth to “knocker-ups,” the human alarm clocks people hired to wake them up. Being a knocker-up became popular during the Industrial Revolution, especially in cities where technical innovation boomed, and many citizens were due at factory jobs before the sun came up. In some towns, residents set slate boards against their outside walls to write their weekly work schedule; this way, any knocker-up would know when to wake them. These boards became so common that people referred to them as “knocky-up boards” or “wake-up slates.
However, the most famous knocker-up, and allegedly the last to exist, is Mrs. Molly Moore. Her mother was a knocker- up, and Molly continued her legacy after she passed. This mother-daughter duo became known for their unique knocking methods; instead of long poles, the two used a rubber tube as a make-shift pea shooter and pelted clients’ windows with dried peas. Whatever the method, a knocker-up wouldn’t leave until their client came out the door and headed on their way to work. While history may have long forgotten about these early-morning heroes, their reliability and commitment are what ultimately allowed thousands of employees to make it to work on time.
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