The Kick-Off Game: Disappeared Occupations of the 20th Century, the List of which Still Replenishes

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Studying the lists of professions in demand at a particular period of human history, you can learn a lot about society: people's preferences, technical equipment, it is even possible to draw conclusions about the sanitary condition of cities. These or those specialties arise on the wave of the requirements of their time, but then disappear just as quickly. In this review, a story about some professions, the memory of which has now remained only in photographs.

Time seller

Before the beginning of the radio era, when exact time signals were not yet transmitted on the air, accurate synchronization of clocks was very important. This was done by the Time Sellers. The last representative of this profession was Ruth Belleville. Every morning, she set up a chronograph on the Greenwich Observatory watch, and then toured customers who signed up for the service. Thus, people were able to synchronize their clocks with Greenwich Mean Time. The error in this case was no more than 10 seconds. This profession was popular in the 19th century. With the advent of the radio that transmitted accurate time signals (this first happened in 1926), many customers, of course, stopped paying for such a service. However, Ruth worked even before 1940.

Wake-up

The activity of this person was also associated with the exact time. He had to wake up his client by order. This was done either by knocking on the window (long sticks and stones were used), or with the help of special pipes. Such professionals were widespread in England and Ireland. In Russia, by the way, the residents were woken up by the janitors.

Pied Piper

People of this profession did a very important job, ridding cities of harmful rodents. This activity was fundamentally different from modern pest-baiting: rat catchers climbed through basements and sewers, catching rats by hand. Of course, this required special skill. Interestingly, these same "professionals" sometimes were engaged in breeding and selling tame rats, and also supplied live rodents for the popular fun of those days - dog baiting. In 1835, in England, the use of bears and bulls was banned for such purposes, and bloody entertainment began to be carried out with rats.

Many professions have disappeared literally during the lifetime of one generation of people. Our parents could also see them.

Shoe shiner

This profession is correctly called. It appeared in the 18th century. Cleaning boys have become a real "sign of the times", because this simple work was done mainly by children. This service was popular until the middle of the 20th century, and then gradually disappeared in Europe and America, but continues to flourish in Asia and Latin America. Therefore, it is too early to call it a “dead profession” formally. In India there is even a trade union of shoe shiners and a special license for this type of activity.

Street knife grinder

It is interesting that people of this profession have been known since antiquity. Artisans-grinders had small workshops or went to cities and villages in search of clients. In those days, when life and well-being often depended on edged weapons, such a narrow specialization justified itself. In the 20th century, street knife grinders were still very common. Their professional tool was most often a foot-operated whetstone. Now these no longer exist, although this profession called in production is a completely official and in-demand working profession.

Stenographer

The disappearance of this specialty can be compared to the explosion of a huge multi-storey building. A skill that has been honed over millennia has ceased to be in demand in just a few decades. Technological progress in this case turned out to be ruthless.

If we recall the history of this profession, then its beginning dates back to Ancient Egypt, where the speeches of the pharaohs were recorded with conventional symbols. In the 1st century BC, the first system of signs used for cursive writing was invented. Since the end of the 16th century, stenography has developed rapidly and has become a full-fledged professional institution with its own educational institutions, specialized printed publications, and regularly held international congresses.

In our country, in 2018, this profession seems to have ended its existence. From April 1, the positions of "Secretary-stenographer", "Stenographer" and "Head of the typewriting bureau" are excluded from the Qualification Directory of the positions of managers, specialists and other employees.

It is clear that the disappearance of some professions and the emergence of others is a natural process, and it will continue along with the history of mankind. There are predictions about which professions will no longer be in demand next. Most likely, specialties will disappear in the coming decades:

- Travel agent - many people are already planning their trips themselves. - The cashier in the supermarket will be replaced by a "smart cart", such concepts already exist. - Call center operator - automatic systems with recorded voice information are doing their job well today. - Ticket-reader - reading scanners can replace a living person in this case. - Postman - this profession should have disappeared a couple of years ago with the advent of e-mail, but it turned out to be unexpectedly tenacious. In any case, the work of the postal service will have to change a lot in the near future. - Chauffeur - autopilots for cars and buses are already being actively used in big cities.

Whether these predictions come true - we will find out in a couple of decades.

If you want to dive into the past, you should see 30 photographs of Russian peasants-artisans at work .