Obsolete Occupations
As computers and automated systems increasingly take the jobs humans once held, entire professions are now extinct. Click through the gallery below to see examples of endangered professions, from milkman to telegrapher, and hear from people who once filled those oft-forgotten jobs.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124251060
Lector
If you’ve ever read the book “Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man,” then you know what a lector is. However, for those of you who have not read the book, a lector was a person whose sole job was to read aloud to the workers employed in a cigar factory. The lector would sit, usually on a raised platform in the middle of the room, and read books, newspapers, or other forms of current events of interest for hours on end, to provide those who were rolling cigars with entertainment from their monotonous jobs. Lectors received a relatively high wage and were held in great esteem because they could read and write, whereas most of the factory workers could not.Elevator Operator
In the early part of the century, elevator operators were in great demand, but around 1950, the need for them started to dwindle as the installation of fully automated elevators became popular. Now, they are only seen in old apartment buildings and the occasional tourist sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle (located in Seattle, Washington).Pinsetter
Until 1936, when the automatic pinsetter was invented by Gottfried Schmidt, the operation of a bowling alley was dependent upon “pinboys” and “pingirls.” The job of these young people was to remove knocked over bowling pins during the middle of a bowler’s turn, to reset them at the end of a round, and to return the used bowling balls to their owners.Iceman
Although ice is still delivered to schools, restaurants, and catering companies today, the form and use of it has changed. Before electric refrigerators became widely used in the 1940s, deliverymen had to carry huge chunks of ice to houses every few days in order for family’s to keep their iceboxes stocked so their food would stay cold. People would hang signs in their windows letting the icemen know how much ice they needed to have delivered. The ice was cut from lakes or rivers in the North then shipped South, and blocks of it could be anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds.Lamplighter
In the 19th century, gas lights became the preferred method of illuminating streets at night. Up to that point, and even for years after, lamplighters were used to turn each light on manually. With the aid of a lantern or matches, and a ladder or long pole, these people would go to 200 to 300 streetlamps every night, lighting each one individually. Then they would return at dawn and go to each one again, extinguishing them.Milkman
At some point or other in their lives, most people have heard the expression referring to children who are different from their families as: “Where did he come from? Must be the milkman’s.” Well, the phrase seems to be a bit outdated, considering that by 2005 the Department of Agriculture surveyed that less than 0.5% of consumers had their milk delivered. However, before it became more convenient to buy milk at the grocery store, nearly every house had their milk delivered, or they produced it themselves.Typesetter
In the present day, manual printing presses are used only for posh printing shops that produce highly customized works such as stationary, invitations, and special edition books. But before 1960 when phototypesetting became the norm, human typesetters had to manually place each individual piece of lead type into wooden frames. This created the layout for the pages produced in newspaper offices and publishing houses.http://www.carolinianonline.com/taking-a-look-back-at-the-jobs-of-yesteryear-1.1344670
16 Responses to “Jobs Of Yesteryear”
I learned that pin setters no longer exist because machines replaced them
It’s sad. Technology stealing people’s jobs must be annoying. Although technology makes jobs easier, people were getting a good pay until technology was improved.
it was very interresting to learn a bout the past my fav one was the ice mann
I learned what jobs were taken over by teniclagy some of the jobs were ice man witch was taken over by a fridge.
one thing i learnd this year is job of yester year. i learnd that ice men carried 1 big block of ice evrey day two 1 persons house. every week than refrigerators were inventide then peopl got fired.
I think it was pretty good and it showed allmost all the jobs back then and how important these jobs were back then.
Its sad because technology steal people’s jobs even if it makes it easy but, the people lost there jobs.
I learned about jobs from years ago that are now replaced by tecnology.Jobs like ice man go replaced by fridges.
it was very interresting i liked the ice mann
I learned that michenes took over jobs, and people such as pin setters, ice blockers and lectors.
I go on u tube all the time it tells answer all the time. I learned how to see more or find more vidoes.
I enjoyed this activity very much. It’s very informal about past tough jobs.
In jobs of yesteryear I learned about lectors. Lectors are people who would read to workers and get paid for it.
What i learned from the yesteryear assignment is that people used to have to do everything like if you were a teenager ad you needed a job you could get a job as a pingirl or pinboy or you could deliver milk or someone would have to deliver ice to you because there were no refrigorators.
what i learned about yesteryear was that there is guy called the ice man and he delvers ice and he gets
27.50.
What i learned about yesteryear was that many of the old jobs already faded away . like ice man we dont need him anymore to delivere 14 tons of ice a day.