Before machines, automation, and cheap consumer technology, many ordinary problems required an actual person to solve them. Entire careers disappeared when daily life got easier.
1. The Knocker-Up
Before alarm clocks became common, some workers paid a knocker-up to wake them.
Armed with a long stick or pole, they tapped on bedroom windows at the exact time customers needed to get up for work. Cheap alarm clocks eventually made the human alarm clock unnecessary.
2. The Iceman
Before home refrigerators, households relied on large blocks of ice to keep food cold.
Icemen delivered ice regularly, while ice cutters harvested it from frozen lakes and rivers. Electric refrigerators gradually made both jobs largely obsolete.
3. The Lamplighter
Before electric streetlights, someone had to walk through a neighborhood lighting lamps by hand at dusk and extinguishing them later.
Electric lighting removed the need for this nightly routine almost everywhere.
4. The Switchboard Operator
Early telephone users could not simply dial another person.
Operators manually connected calls by plugging wires into the correct circuits. Automated dialing gradually replaced this enormous workforce.
5. The Bowling Pinsetter
Before automatic pinsetting machines, workers stood behind bowling lanes resetting every pin by hand.
The job was often done by young people working quickly between throws. Mechanical pinsetters eventually eliminated most of the need.
6. The Factory Lector
In some cigar factories, workers hired someone to read newspapers, novels, and other material aloud during long shifts.
The job disappeared as factories became louder and new forms of entertainment became widely available.
