21 October 2010

"Knocker-Up" Talks!


From: Yorkshire Evening Post (1922)

Posted by at
Labels:

1 comment:

  1. AmphigorymOctober 25, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    Part of what I like so much about Musty Moments is the sharp contrasts one often finds between British and American customs.

    I had never heard of 'knocking up' as anything except as a euphamism for an unmarried girl getting pregnant (usually by some cad who had no intention of making an honest woman of her), and let me tell you, reading the title gave me pause.

    Somehow, the idea of a woman that age having to support herself by getting up in the wee hours of the morning and going around knocking on people's doors and windows with a stick because the lazy bastards can't get themselves out of bed seems like it ought to be the punchline of a bad joke.

    I find this sort of thing fascinating.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)