That it should happen in our lifetimes

[rolanni]

Steve and I were talking last evening about the jobs that had existed during our lifetimes which exist no more. Here's a partial list, in no particular order:

1. Lamplighter
2. Ice man
3. Pin boy
4. Ayrab
5. Tinker
6. Insurance man*
7. Milk man
8. Secretary**
9. Street sweeper
10. Beat cop

What occupations and jobs have vanished from the world around you?

_________________
* Back in the Day, the insurance man would come to the house weekly, and collect his quarter or half-dollar. Yes, was the legitimate insurance man.

**Actually, secretary seemed to almost die out as a job,the reasoning being that the boss could type his own dern letters if only he was given a computer. Then corporate thinking came back around to the realization that the status of having a live person to do all that silly paperwork for you was priceless, so the occupation has enjoyed a minor renaissance.

Comments

Elevator Operator?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Back in the days (about 1982 or so), I worked at RCA in Camden, NJ. And if you walked into the headquarters building, in the corner of the elevators, there was a stool with a man sitting on it. While the elevators were completely self-operated (we pushed our own buttons), the unions had a deal whereby the elevator operators were guaranteed employment as long as they were in the elevators. So we had elevator operators who spent their days sitting in the back of the elevators. I always wondered what the mental health figures were for that position.

Japan still has such operators in some department stores and such, but it is a trainee position, and they operate the controls and sing out the floors. Very different.

Re: Elevator Operator?

[otterb.livejournal.com]

Last year I stayed in the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado. The new wing of the hotel has modern elevators, but the 100-year-old main building has an old-style elevator that required an operator. But it wasn't a full time job; one of the bell staff would come over and operate it when you rang.

Re: Elevator Operator?

[reedrover]

Oh, good, I was hoping some one would mention elevator operator before I got to the end of the comments.