5 professions that disappeared with the development of technology

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

With the development of technical progress, many activities that were popular before were no longer in demand. The reason is the automation of elements of the productive forces and related processes. You don't need to hire workers or wake up at the right time in the morning to turn on streetlights. Modern mechanisms no longer require this, which ultimately led to the disappearance of some professions.

Rag-picker

Buyers of old things were once called rag-pickers. They traveled to settlements in carts and purchased various rubbish from people: from old clothes and fabric to paper, bones and bottles. Recyclable materials were needed for the manufacture of new products: glass, dishes, costumes …

The profession appeared a long time ago - garbage buyers existed in Ancient Egypt. The most popular rag-pickers became in the XIX - XX centuries. Only in the vicinity of Paris in the 1880s, there were more than 7,000 representatives of this profession. When, with the development of industry, the "garbage" assortment depreciated (since it became too much, and there were many different methods of extracting resources that were less costly), the need for rag pickers disappeared.

Huge industries no longer needed intermediaries - garbage collectors. As a result, the profession has become unclaimed.

Lamplighter

London was the first city to have the first street lamps. It happened in 1417. Over time, the innovation spread to all European cities. Then the lamplighters became popular.

Every evening they lit the lanterns and then put them out in the morning.

The duties of city employees included cleaning and repairing lanterns, timely replacement of flammable liquid. The profession disappeared in the second half of the 19th century, with the advent of gas lanterns that turned on and off without assistance.

Alarm clock man

During the industrial revolution, when machine labor began to gradually replace manual labor, the profession of "knocker-up" became popular in some parts of England, which literally means "wake up with a knock."

The alarm clock man had only one duty - to knock on the worker's window to wake him up before the shift began.

The wages for such work were very low, so only elderly people and women chose it. When the workers' windows were on the upper floors, the "wake-up calls" used long bamboo sticks.

With the advent of mechanical alarm clocks (early XX century), the British ceased to need this profession. However, even in the middle of the last century, the specialty "knocker-up" existed as a tribute to traditions. Therefore, representatives of this already disappeared profession can be found in the UK to this day.

Water carrier and water carrier

Before the water supply system existed, people, especially city dwellers, had an urgent need for clean water.

If the rural population used wells, then the townspeople did not always have such an opportunity. For many centuries, people used the services of water carriers or water carriers, which took water from clean sources and transported it to the population.

The profession was difficult and suitable only for physically hardy men. Water carriers were popular at the time. Their guilds tended to be very influential in the city.

The advent of centralized water supply did not immediately eradicate this type of activity. Rather, the profession has not disappeared, but has transformed: today we can purchase drinking water with the help of specialized services, and for household needs we use the water supply system.

Clerk

When printing presses did not yet exist, their function was performed by scribes or scribes.

This occupation is very ancient - the profession became in demand with the advent of writing. This type of activity was in great demand for a single millennium - clerks were always required in government institutions.

They were engaged in rewriting books, various documents. With the advent of printing presses (mid-15th century), and then machines (18th century), the profession disappeared.

As you can see, all the disappeared professions were once in great demand. Some of them today have transformed into new occupations, while others have disappeared forever.