Unusual Jobs Quiz

Answer: Their pockets are sewn shut. To prevent chip theft, all croupiers' pockets are sewn shut.

Answer: An artisan specializing in repairing and re-meshing laddered stockings and tights. The stocking darner was a highly skilled craftswoman who repaired silk or wool stockings when they laddered or developed holes, re-meshing each stitch by hand with a special needle. Before the era of disposable hosiery, this service was indispensable as silk stockings were very expensive. The trade disappeared in the 1960s–70s with the spread of cheap nylon tights.

Answer: Professional mourner. In certain cultures, professional mourners are hired to publicly express pain and grief at funerals.

Answer: He lit and extinguished the gas or oil street lamps every evening and morning. The lamplighter walked the streets every evening with a long pole fitted with a wick to light the gas or oil street lamps, then returned each morning to put them out. This job gradually disappeared in the early 20th century with the arrival of automatic electric lighting.

Answer: He tastes or evaluates the smell and texture of kibble and pâtés to check their quality before they go on sale. Some testers literally taste small amounts of pet food, or evaluate its smell and texture, to check that it meets the company's quality standards before it is marketed. This unusual and little-known job really exists at some major pet food companies.

Answer: Caretaker of an island on the Great Barrier Reef. For six months, the job involved swimming, diving and blogging about daily life. A tourism promotion campaign of formidable effectiveness.

Answer: Panda nanny. You feed, weigh and clean the cubs and monitor their health… sometimes wearing a panda suit so they don't get used to humans. Thousands of candidates apply.

Answer: Replaces the actor during long lighting and camera set-ups. Chosen for a height and build close to the star's, they stay still while the crew sets everything up. The actor then arrives, fresh, to shoot.

Answer: Chick sexer. A chick sexer determines the sex of chicks on their very first day of life when they are almost identical in appearance. Females are destined for egg production while males are directed to other channels, often meat production. This rare job is highly sought after in the food industry.

Answer: He makes musical instruments. A 'facteur d'instruments' (instrument maker) builds musical instruments — a completely different meaning from the postal worker 'facteur'. A classic French false friend!

Answer: A lumberjack-sawyer working in mountain hydraulic sawmills called scieries à tarboulets. The sagard was a skilled worker in the mountain hydraulic sawmills of the Vosges and Jura, known as tarboulet sawmills or éclisse sawmills. These small sawmills used the force of mountain torrents to power a large vertical blade that cut logs into planks. The sagard mastered both forestry work and saw operation. This craft trade virtually disappeared with the industrialisation of sawmills in the 20th century.

Answer: Luthier. Luthiers are craftsmen specializing in the making and repair of musical instruments, notably violins and guitars.

Answer: He travelled through the countryside to sell goods, almanacs and books directly to residents. The peddler travelled on foot or with a small cart, a bundle of goods on his back, to sell items, fabrics, almanacs and popular books in isolated rural areas. This trade disappeared with the development of roads, transport and settled commerce.

Answer: He carried very heavy loads of goods on his head or back between the stalls and the trucks or carts. The 'forts des Halles' were sworn porters who carried enormous loads of meat, vegetables or fish on their heads and shoulders by sheer strength in Paris's old central market. This job disappeared when the Halles market moved to Rungis in 1969 and goods transport became mechanised.

Answer: John Harrison, taster for Dreyer's. He tasted ice cream with a gold spoon so as not to alter the flavours, and avoided overly spicy food. He reportedly tasted hundreds of millions of litres during his career.

Answer: Artificial eyes. They hand-paint the iris and tiny blood vessels of each prosthesis so it matches the other eye perfectly. A job between medicine and art.