George's Notes
What a familiar figure the knocker-up was (sometimes called the rugger-up) on his early morning round, carrying his bamboo pole with two stiff wires fixed in the end. With this, he tapped on the bedroom windows of his customers. As soon as he got the response “Alright”, he usually gave the state of the weather: “Mind how you go, it’s very foggy” or “wrap up well love, it’s bitter”.
The normal charge for this service was 3d per week, collected each Friday evening. In retrospect, one can only admire the individuals who provided it, especially when it is realised that to earn £1 it was necessary to tap on 80 different windows six times a week.
George Mainwaring
For information on the Knocker Up, please visit… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker-up
