11 old-fashioned jobs that no longer exist

A century ago, whole industries ran on human labor for tasks we now complete with a tap, a switch, or an app.

Work looked a lot different a century ago, with entire industries built around tasks that machines or apps handle instantly today. Before the digital age streamlined our daily grind, people were hired to wake neighbors, reset bowling pins, and even catch rats by hand on city streets. Looking back at these extinct professions offers a fascinating glimpse into how much our daily lives have shifted over the last hundred years.

While some of these gigs sound charming or quirky, many were grueling, dangerous, or just plain strange by modern standards. It is wild to imagine a time when human alarm clocks roamed the sidewalks and ice didn’t come from a freezer but was carved from frozen lakes. History is full of forgotten roles, and revisiting them reminds us that the workforce is constantly in flux.

Knocker-Upper

Before reliable alarm clocks became a household staple, people paid a “knocker-upper” to ensure they woke up on time for their factory shifts. These human timekeepers would walk the streets with long bamboo poles to tap on second-story windows or use pea shooters to hit the glass without disturbing the neighbors. It was a simple yet essential service that kept the industrial wheels turning before clockwork became cheap enough for everyone.

The profession was surprisingly personal, with the knocker-upper often refusing to leave until they saw the client moving about. They were a common sight in industrial towns, but the spread of affordable mechanical clocks eventually silenced their morning taps. Today, the very last of these dedicated wakers had retired, closing the book on a truly unique morning ritual.

Ice Cutter

Before electric refrigeration changed how we preserved food, harvesting ice was a massive and perilous winter industry. Teams of men and horses ventured onto frozen lakes to saw huge blocks of ice apart, which were then stored in insulated houses for year-round distribution. During the industry’s peak in the late 19th century, the U.S. ice trade employed an estimated 90,000 people to keep the country cool.

This job was physically demanding and fraught with the danger of falling into freezing waters or being crushed by heavy blocks. The harvested ice was shipped globally, with Boston alone exporting almost 75,000 tons of ice in 1847 to places as far away as India. Once electric fridges arrived in kitchens, the need for this dangerous harvest melted away almost overnight.

Bowling Pinsetter

If you went bowling in the early 20th century, you didn’t wait for a machine to clear the lane; you waited for a “pin boy” to do it. These young workers, often teenagers, perched at the end of the lanes to manually clear fallen pins and roll the ball back to the player. It was a noisy, fast-paced, and physically exhausting job that required quick reflexes to avoid being struck by flying bowling balls.

The work was low-paying and often kept kids out late at night, leading to labor concerns in many states. Automatic pinsetters were introduced in the 1930s and became widespread by the 1950s, quickly making the manual job obsolete. Today, the only place you will find a human setting pins is in a vintage-style bowling alley or a museum exhibit.

Human Computer

Long before digital processors fit in our pockets, “computer” was a job title for a person who performed complex mathematical calculations by hand. These workers, often women with advanced math skills, were crucial to astronomy, engineering, and, eventually, the space program. A 1942 memo from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) noted that they had approximately human computers on staff.

They meticulously plotted trajectories and analyzed data using slide rules and pencils, laying the groundwork for modern aerospace achievements. Their work was incredibly precise, but the arrival of electronic mainframes could process numbers millions of times faster. While the job title has been automated, the legacy of these human mathematicians remains a vital part of scientific history.

Factory Lector

In cigar factories, particularly in Florida and Cuba, the monotony of rolling tobacco was broken by the voice of a lector. The workers themselves hired these individuals to read newspapers, novels, and political treatises aloud while they worked. The lector served as a live audiobook and news anchor, keeping the workforce educated and entertained during long, repetitive shifts.

Factory owners eventually grew suspicious of the radical political ideas being disseminated through these readings and often tried to ban them. The introduction of the radio also provided a cheaper, albeit less personalized, form of background noise. By the mid-20th century, the lector’s voice was silenced, mainly replaced by the hum of machinery and broadcast music.

Resurrectionist

In the 18th and 19th centuries, medical schools were desperate for cadavers to teach anatomy, but legal supplies of bodies were scarce. This created a grim market for “resurrectionists,” or body snatchers, who dug up fresh graves to sell corpses to doctors. It was a gruesome, illegal, and highly profitable trade that preyed on the grief of families and the sanctity of churchyards.

Public outrage over the practice was intense, leading to riots and the installation of “mortsafes”—heavy iron cages over graves—to deter theft. The Anatomy Act of 1832 in the UK finally expanded the legal supply of bodies for scientific research, effectively ending the black market. While no longer a career option, the resurrectionist remains a spooky footnote in the history of medical advancement.

Leech Collector

In the 19th century, bloodletting was a standard medical treatment, and demand for medicinal leeches skyrocketed across Europe. Poor collectors would wade into ponds and marshes, using their own legs as bait to attract the creatures before peeling them off for sale. The “leech craze” was so intense that, in 1833 alone, France imported roughly 42 million leeches to meet doctors’ orders.

The job was not only gross but also unhealthy, as collectors often suffered from blood loss and infections from their daily work. Over-harvesting eventually made the medicinal leech rare in many parts of Europe, crashing the industry. Modern medicine has largely moved on, though leeches still make occasional, regulated appearances in microsurgery recovery.

Rat Catcher

Cities have always battled pests, but in the past, the frontline defense was a man with a ferret and a sack. Local governments and private homeowners hired Rat catchers to track down and exterminate vermin that carried disease and spoiled food. It was a dirty, high-risk job that required a person to crawl into sewers and basements where few others dared to go.

Some catchers became local celebrities, claiming to have secret formulas or special animals that made them superior hunters. Chemical poisons and better sanitation infrastructure eventually pushed the traditional rat catcher out of business. Pest control is still a massive industry, but the days of chasing rodents by hand are thankfully behind us.

Lamplighter

Before electric bulbs lit up our streets, gas lamps cast a warm, flickering glow over cities, requiring manual ignition every single evening. Lamplighters would walk miles each dusk with a long pole to turn on the gas and light the wick, then return at dawn to put them out. It is a job that has vanished chiefly, yet over 1,000 authentic gas lamps still operate in London today, maintained by a tiny team of modern specialists.

The role was a fixture of urban life, providing safety and rhythm to the neighborhood as the lights came on one by one. Automation and electrification in the 20th century made the manual lighting process unnecessary for most of the world. Now, the image of a lamplighter is pure nostalgia, evoking a slower time when light was a daily service rather than a switch.

Town Crier

In an era before newspapers and Twitter, the town crier was the original news feed, delivering headlines at the top of his lungs. Dressed in elaborate robes and ringing a handbell, they would stand in the town square to announce bylaws, market days, and royal proclamations. “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!” was the standard call to attention, a phrase that literally means “Hear ye” in Anglo-Norman.

They were protected by law, as harming a town crier was considered treason against the monarch they represented. As literacy rates rose and print media spread, the need for a human loudspeaker faded away. Today, town criers exist primarily for ceremonial purposes and tourism competitions, keeping the vocal tradition alive.

Elevator Operator

Early elevators were complex machines that required a skilled hand to level the car perfectly with the floor and open the heavy doors. Uniformed operators greeted passengers, announced floors, and managed the flow of people in department stores and skyscrapers. It added a touch of luxury and safety to the ride, ensuring that no one got stuck or confused by the machinery.

The push-button elevator, which allowed passengers to control the ride themselves, was initially met with skepticism and fear. Once the public trusted the automatic technology, the operator’s role quickly diminished. While you might still find one in a luxury hotel or historic building, the job has largely been replaced by a simple panel of buttons.

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