The term “gig economy” emerged in 2009 to describe freelance and additional task-based work. Some say “gigs” date back to the jazz scene of 1915, but task-based work has been around for quite literally ages. Rather than knowledge and desk-based work, historical “gigs” have been anything from the mundane to some really quite odd jobs.

Journalist Tina Brown is often credited with coining the term “gig economy” after saying, “No one I know has a job anymore. They’ve got Gigs.” Reporting on a poll in 2009 that revealed a third of respondents working either freelance or in two jobs, she defined “Gigonomics,”:

“Gigs: a bunch of free-floating projects, consultancies, and part-time bits and pieces.”

Whereas some of the weird and wonderful jobs of the past were quite serious full-time lifelong professions, others are hard to imagine as a permanent career. Were these just gigs? Let’s take a look at the past, present, and future of seemingly strange occupations…

The Weirdest Jobs in History?

Leech Collectors

Leeches have been used to treat ailments for thousands of years, but the practice of “leeching” a patient’s blood became a craze in 19th-century Europe. Leeches were collected in the U.K. and Europe, imported from Germany to America, and heavily imported into France (around 42 million in 1833).

If you’re cringing and already imagining leech collectors in waterproofs and gumboots with buckets and nets, you might want to skip to the next weird job. Leech collectors often used their own bare legs, wading through bogs and marshes to attract these little suckers, then waiting twenty minutes for them to finish feeding, risking infection and disease, before detaching them to sell.

Leech collectors were poor, poorly paid, and usually sick. They collected as many as 2,500 leeches per day to make a humble income, but only during warmer seasons. Leech collectors in Central Asia and Australia, which exported millions of leeches to Europe, would perform their work hoping to avoid snakes and other critters.

Resurrectionists (Body Snatchers)

Better or worse than leeches? We’re not sure…

If you thought body snatching was reserved for horror movies, you’re mistaken. Resurrectionists, or body snatchers, removed corpses from graves and morgues in an illicit trade that supplied medical schools in the U.K. and the U.S. with cadavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Actually taking corpses from graves didn’t become illegal in the U.K. until 1832, but the practice was considered reprehensible. That didn’t stop a whole industry in cadaver supply where there were not only professional body snatchers and criminal opportunists but also students looking to earn income in what was a lucrative opportunity in the day. A single body could pay the equivalent of a few months’ wages for a normal worker.

Lectors (Cigar Factory Readers)

Were all of history’s odd jobs gross? Thankfully not! From the late 19th to early 20th century, lectors would read Cuban and American newspapers and books to workers in factories in Cuba and in the U.S.

This unusual profession began in a cigar factory in Havana in 1865 when workers began taking turns to read aloud to their peers, who paid them for their time lost from the production line. This entertainment, breaking the monotony of manually rolling cigars, became hugely popular, creating a new profession (still paid by the workers) that continued even after radios became widely available in the 1920s. The social and political education that workers received via lectors is credited with mobilizing labor rights and unionization in the industry.

That’s an Odd Gig You Have There

There are a handful of odd jobs common in years gone that still exist, to a degree, today. Then, there are today’s odd jobs that seem stranger still…

Town Criers

The town crier is another interesting example of how jobs and lives change because of technology. Admittedly, there aren’t many town criers left. Chester, in the U.K., is one place with a town crier most days between June and August, likely for the benefit of tourists.

The first official town criers go back nearly 1,000 years to 1066, when they proclaimed King Harold’s authority. They remained popular for centuries, bringing news to largely illiterate populations. The very first “town criers” are thought to be the Spartan Runners of the early Greek Empire and then the Roman Conquest. Criers, sometimes known as “bellmen,” were paid 2d to 4d per cry in the 18th century.

Mudlarks

Mudlarking was mainly the occupation of children aged eight and upwards in 18th and 19th century London, England. Mudlarks would scour the banks of the Thames once the tide went out, collecting coal dropped from barges, rivets lost from ships, pieces of canvas and rope, and even fat thrown overboard by ship’s cooks. Coal would be sold to the poor, and rope and fat would be sold to marine dealers and stores. The strongest mudlarks, often homeless orphan boys, worked through the winter as well as the warmer months.

Why is mudlarking on this list of current odd jobs? It’s a gig seeing a resurgence as modern-day mudlarks search the mud of the Thames for treasure and historical pieces. The Society of Thames Mudlarks was formed in 1980; members have a license and report findings to the Museum of London.

Odor Judges

In a much more modern occupation, odor judges or odor testers generally help test how perfumes, room sprays, and other products smell. Others review how processed foods smell once they are cooked. According to ZipRecruiter, odor testers require a degree in chemistry and earn between $30,000 and $60,000 per year. It does get weirder, though; some odor judges are paid to smell volunteers’ breath, feet, and armpits when they are testing cosmetic products!

Pet Food Tasters

Food tasters have existed for centuries, performing an often dangerous occupation to ensure that their employer’s food wasn’t poisoned.

Pet food tasting, however, is a newer career serving an industry that only emerged with the first commercial pet food in 1860. As we’ve kept more and more pets, and the importance of what they eat has grown, pet food tasting has become a serious profession. Dog food tasting, for example, can pay £20,000 at entry level but £50,000+ for technical directors responsible for developing new recipes.

Strange But True?

Will wacky occupations top up universal basic income when AI-powered robots replace us?

Hopefully, we won’t see anything as extreme as being completely replaced in the workforce, but jobs are evolving, including gigs and odd jobs. Here are a few we might see in the future:

Virtual Reality Tour Guide

Inc. describes an “augmented reality journey builder” or a “personal memory creator” of the future. The former will guide users through augmented and virtual experiences and design virtual entertainment programs. The latter could create virtual experiences based on real memories to compensate for our brains aging faster than our bodies with healthcare enhancements. Although the “metaverse” is developing more slowly than expected, it’s perfectly feasible that real-world tour guides could see their virtual counterparts getting more gigs in the next few decades.

Data Waste Disposal Operative

By 2025, it’s predicted that the world will store 200 zettabytes of personal and business data. Over 8,000 data centers worldwide currently account for around 1-1.5% of global electricity use. It’s just been revealed that Google’s emissions have risen 50% in the past five years due to AI energy demands.

We’re storing more data than ever before as we digitize our lives and use AI to create even more content. The environmental, monetary, and cyber risks associated with data will surely drive demand for small armies of data disposal operatives who help us sort and minimize our digital footprints. Or, perhaps this is an odd job for AI?