Old profession: Knocker up

...he remembers gas lamps and the days when the “knocker up” did his rounds waking up the mill workers...

The woman on the left is shooting dried peas at her client´s window using a tube as a pea shooter.

This profession was common in England and Ireland during the Industrial Revolution and remained until alarm clocks replaced it.

The knocker up used a long and heavy stick to wake people who required his/her services by knocking on their doors or windows. They wouldn´t leave their client´s house until they were sure the job was well done and people wouldn´t go back to sleep. Some were unemployed, some had other jobs. 

They were popular enough for some authors to include them in their works: 

"…Mr. Wopsle, being knocked up, was in such a very bad temper …" 

Charles Dickens. Great Expectations