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Hamilton Books
The Most Disgusting Jobs in Victorian London
The Most Disgusting Jobs in Victorian London
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WARNING TO READERS! DO NOT READ THIS BOOK JUST BEFORE EATING LUNCH
Victorian London was a dirty place. The city faced the problem of how to deal with a huge amount of human waste and horse dung, as well as other waste such as animal bones and millions of oyster shells (oysters were a cheap food at the time). A lot of waste was disposed of outside the sewerage system, for example flowing into cesspools, or being discharged directly into streets and open watercourses. Rats, bugs and other pests abounded.
However, labour was cheap and plentiful, and large numbers of people were employed in filthy jobs, ranging from cesspool emptying to sewer flushing, and from rat-catching to bug destroying.
In addition, some Victorian Londoners tried to make money by combing through waste and refuse. Sewer-hunters waded through the sewers, scouring and sieving the sewer's contents for valuable items such as jewellery; bone-grubbers searched street and house bins looking for anything from their next meal to small items which could be sold; and mud-larks tried to make a subsistence living by sifting through the mud and soil on the shores of London's rivers.
The Most Disgusting Jobs in Victorian London is a record of the lives of these people.
Victorian London was a dirty place. The city faced the problem of how to deal with a huge amount of human waste and horse dung, as well as other waste such as animal bones and millions of oyster shells (oysters were a cheap food at the time). A lot of waste was disposed of outside the sewerage system, for example flowing into cesspools, or being discharged directly into streets and open watercourses. Rats, bugs and other pests abounded.
However, labour was cheap and plentiful, and large numbers of people were employed in filthy jobs, ranging from cesspool emptying to sewer flushing, and from rat-catching to bug destroying.
In addition, some Victorian Londoners tried to make money by combing through waste and refuse. Sewer-hunters waded through the sewers, scouring and sieving the sewer's contents for valuable items such as jewellery; bone-grubbers searched street and house bins looking for anything from their next meal to small items which could be sold; and mud-larks tried to make a subsistence living by sifting through the mud and soil on the shores of London's rivers.
The Most Disgusting Jobs in Victorian London is a record of the lives of these people.
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