Morning Shot

you to make it to school or work. After all, we have places to be in thanks to do right. But what about the world before alarm clocks, in places where roosters weren't exactly cocka doodle doing their job to wake us up with the sun. How did everyone make it to work on time back then? Well, the answer to that question lies with a long forgotten occupation and with one of the biggest names in that field, generally speaking.

To be the muse of someone's picture book, you had to have done something pretty noteworthy, something perhaps inspiring or educational, or unlike anything anyone else had done before. And for the most part, you could say all of those things about Mary Smith, a Londoner who did something pretty remarkable. Between nineteen o one and nineteen eighteen. Mary was a knocker upper whose job description can probably be inferred from

the title. Generally, they would go door to door throughout London, making sure people were up in time for work, sort of like a living alarm clock, and each knocker upper had their own territory a lot like a paper boy would today. Mary Smith, however, was something of an innovator. You see, knocker uppers used to well knock on doors in the morning, but the populace complained that morning door

knocks were just too frightening to startling. It bothered the kids, they said, so the knocker uppers looked for new ways to do their job. Some used a long stick, often ten to fifteen feet long. Rather than rap on the door, the knocker upper would use that long pole to tap on the bedroom window of the person inside, because apparently a tap on the second floor bedroom window is a lot less frightening than a knock at the front door. But Mary Smith did something else, something that sounds further

fun actually. Instead of knocking on doors or tapping on windows with long sticks, Mary Smith used something with a much farther reach a pea shooter. So much like the kids in lunch rooms firing spit loads with the straw, Mary would fire hardened peas at the windows of those she was hired awake. It's the stuff of picture books, the story of Mary Smith who goes about her territory in East London waking customers who paid her roughly sixpence a week, earning her keep one p at a time.

And if you want to know just how important knock her upping was at the time, consider that Robert Paul, the man who was one the first to discover Jack the rippers first victim, on reporting his findings to the police, was told that it should in no way interfere with Roberts knocker upper duties. After all, what is the most notorious killer in the world Compared to the fears of missing work. As time often does, this particular profession faded away.

By the nineteen forties and fifties. There were very few knocker uppers left in London as electricity spread along with more affordable alarm clocks. A century old profession had walked its final steps, tapped its last windows, and fired its last piece. Despite being passed down from generation to generation. There just wasn't any need for them anymore. But Mary Smith's legacy lived on for a while. She made such an impact with her profession that her daughter followed in

her footsteps, literally and figuratively. Her daughter, also named Mary, would be one of the last knocker uppers in London. So the next time your alarm buzzes or your favorite song wakes you, just imagine it could be the sound of tapping or the ricochein of a pe shot by a kindly old woman standing outside on the streets near your home. You know, easy peas. The military isn't for everyone. The United States Marine Corps even says so much in their recruiting slogan they are the few the proud. But

war changes people. The danger, that sense that one's life could end in a split second brings something out in a soldier. In April of ninety two, a number of Polish soldiers had just been released from Soviet prison camps. They were traveling through Iran on their way to Alexandria, Egypt, where they would board ships back to Europe to assist the Allies. It was during this journey when they met

a young Iranian boy and his friend. The soldiers would have passed them by, but one of the civilians traveling with them saw something special in the boy's friend. She thought it best to bring him along, asking one of the lieutenants to help her secure passage for him. No one knew his name, though, and it appeared as though his mother had been killed, so the troops named him Voytech,

meaning joyous soldier or happy warrior. But Votech wouldn't eat at first, probably from the stress of losing his mom and now joining up with a bunch of strangers, but they managed to get him to drink condensed milk from an old vodka bottle. Over time, they spoiled him, treating him like one of their own children, perhaps out of a deep seated longing for the children they had or lost back home. It didn't take long, however, for Voytech to become one of the guys. When offered a cigarette,

he would take a drag. They also gave him beer, and he would drink it all and then stare down at the opening of the bottle looking for more. The soldiers didn't only feed him garbage, though, he ate fruits, honey, marmalade, and syrups as well, and in the morning they'd give him coffee, which he very much enjoyed. At night, he would snuggle up with the soldiers to keep warm, and during the day they'd play and wrestle together to pass

the time. Votech quickly assimilated to military life and wanted to do everything his older friends were doing. As he grew, he would stand tall and salute them. He even learned how to turn on the communal showers, although that got him in trouble because they were rationing water at the time. After reaching Egypt, the men traveled to Italy to fight alongside the British. There was just one problem though. Votech wasn't allowed to go with them as he wasn't a soldier.

Unwilling to let him go, they drafted him into the Polish Army, where he became an official member of the twenty second Artillery Supply Company. Private Voitech had his own serial number and rank, as well as a paybook in which he could document his rate of pay and other important details during his time in the military, and he quickly proved himself to be an essential asset to the war, demonstrating his utility at the Battle of Monte Casino. In four he was only a few years old, but he

had ballooned to a whopping two hundred pounds. At his size, he was able to carry crates of artillery shells weighing a hundred pounds each. In fact, he was so strong he could lift ammo boxes that normally required three or four men to handle, moving them with ease to wherever they needed to go, and his service during Monte Casino

helped him achieve the rank of corporal. He was a hero to his fellow soldiers and everyone back in Poland, so much so that the twenty second Artillery Support Company changed their insignia to an image of Voitech carrying an AMMO shell Sadly, he passed away in nineteen sixty three, but he was honored with statues all over Poland, as well as in Scotland, where he was stationed briefly. But if you visit the statues expecting to see the metal effigy of a large war ravaged child, you'd be mistaken.

Voitech wasn't a person, you see. He was a bear. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show and you can learn all about it over at the World of Lore dot com. And until next time,

stay curious. Ye