What a difference a few decades can make! Many jobs that used to play important roles in society have disappeared. Whether it’s because of new technology, changing lifestyles or the internet doing it all, some roles have become unrecognizable. So let’s travel back in time and take a look at 11 jobs that are hardly around anymore — and see how different things used to be.
Featured Image Credit: AllaSerebrina /Depositphotos.com.
Switchboard Operator
Remember when people would connect phone cords into a large switchboard to make calls? That was a job! Before dialing a number, someone had to manually connect the call. Today, our phones do all that for us — no waiting, no wires, no middleman needed.
Video Store Clerk
Back in the day, Friday night meant a trip to Blockbuster or your local video rental store. Choosing the right VHS (and later, DVD) was a major event. Since we now stream movies from our living rooms video rental shops and their jobs have disappeared.
Milkman
The milkman was a common sight — delivering fresh bottles of milk right to your door. He was like Amazon Prime, but for milk. Once we had refrigerators and supermarkets in every home, this role quickly vanished.
Typist/Word Processor
Before every employee had a computer, companies hired full-time typists to type out memos and letters. These people typed all day long — that was their entire job. Today, everyone from interns to CEOs can do their own emails and file sharing – even having AI take meeting minutes and summarize notes for them.
Bowling Pin Setter
Believe it or not, pins at bowling alleys weren’t automatically reset. Teenagers would jump into the lanes between turns to set them up manually. Once pinsetters were automated, the job became obsolete.
Travel Agent (for Everyday Trips)
Booking a flight used to mean going to a travel agent and flipping through brochures. Today? You can book flights, hotels and vacations on your phone in five minutes. Travel agents still exist — but they’re more for luxury and group travel these days. When did you last use a travel agent? Tell us in the comments.
Elevator Operator
Human operators had to pull levers to make sure elevators stopped at the correct floors before automatic elevators became standard. They’d even greet you with a smile. Now, we just press a button and ride in awkward silence.
Newspaper Delivery Kid
Tossing newspapers onto the driveway represented the ultimate teenage job – often before sunrise. With most news being read online, this classic gig (and its accompanying bike route) is dying out.
Lighthouse Keeper
Keeping ships safe by manning a lighthouse was once a very important job — checking lights, fog signals and watching for trouble. But now most lighthouses are fully automated and the romantic life of a lone keeper is mostly just something you read about in novels.
Film Projectionist (in Small Theaters)
At one time, someone worked inside the projection booth, handling the film reels and changing them using the projector. With digital projectors now handling all the work, this behind-the-scenes job is gone for good.
Telephone Book Deliverer
Once upon a time, yellow and white pages were delivered to every home — and someone had to drop them off. Now, the internet has taken over phone books — and the people who delivered them door to door have moved on to uber delivery.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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