The march of progress often leaves many casualties in the way of jobs made obsolete.
This is something our society will have to face on an unprecedented level as the robots will surely do most our jobs better than humans.
Here is a list of 11 jobs that no longer exist… BECAUSE OF ROBOTS! SEE!!!!!
1. Bowling Alley Pinsetter
Bowling alley pinsetters were indentured servants young boys employed at bowling alleys to set up the pins for clients and gave the orphans something to occupy their time between not eating meals.
2. Human Alarm Clocks
Knocker-uppers were essentially alarm clocks and had nothing whatsoever to do with pregnancy – they were hired to ensure that people would wake up on time for their own jobs. They would use sticks, clubs or pebbles to knock on clients’ windows and doors and then run like hell to avoid being hit by things thrown by people who were just woken up by sticks, clubs, or pebbles.
3. Ice Cutter
Before modern refrigeration techniques became widespread, ice cutters would saw up the ice on frozen lakes for people to use in their cellars and refrigerators. It was a dangerous job often done in extreme conditions. They tried doing it in the summer, but the ice is much harder to cut then.
4. (Pre-radar) Listener for Enemy Aircraft
Before radar, troops used acoustic mirrors and listening devices like these to focus and detect the sound of engines from approaching aircraft… and bootlegging Greatful Dead shows.
5. Rat Catcher
Rat catchers were employed in Europe to control rat populations. They ran high risks of suffering bights and infections, but helped prevent these diseases from spreading to the public. Plus, what lady could resist a man who returns home with the scent of sewer AND rodent on a daily basis.
6. Lamplighter
Lamplighters used long poles to light, extinguish and refuel street lamps – until electric lamps were introduced. They then became arsonists.
7. Log Driver
Before the technology or infrastructure was available to transport logs by truck, log drivers would float and guide them down rivers from logging sites to processing areas. ‘Driver’ used to mean, ‘cling for dear life’.
8. Switchboard Operator
There used to be a job for nosey, chatty housewives that involved patching lines together so other nosey, chatty housewives could talk to each other. Someone used to have to physically listen in to your conversations, instead of just having them all recorded digitally and scanned for ‘red flag’ words by the government.
9. Resurrectionist
Resurrectionists, which is a nicer name for “body snatchers,” were hired in the 19th century to remove corpses from graves for universities to use as cadavers. Cadavers from legal means were rare and difficult to obtain, so universities had to resort to other means to procure cadavers for their students. This was part of the inspiration for Frankenstein. Probably.
10. Lector Who Entertained Factory Workers
Broadly speaking, a ‘lector’ is simply someone who reads. However, they were often hired with money pooled from workers to read to large rooms full of manual laborers to keep them entertained. Some read left-leaning or union publications to the workers. Others read porn. Oh yeah… you can TOTALLY read porn.
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11. Milk Delivery
Before widespread refrigeration, milk delivery service was a common, and sometimes the only, way to get fresh milk to a home regularly. This gave rise to a whole generation of kids being born, ‘with the Milkman’s eyes’. Truth.
