In the ever-evolving employment landscape, certain roles, once critical to society, have faded into obscurity. As technological advancements, societal changes, and new economic realities have reshaped our world, many professions have been rendered obsolete. These vanished vocations are a stark reminder of the relentless pace of change and our constant quest for progress and efficiency. Here, we delve into 12 obsolete professions and highlight how dramatically the times have shifted.
Professional Mourner
“People, normally women, got paid for crying at someone else’s burial. Ancient Egypt, European Gothic period and a tradition at the end of 20th century in a few countries.”
Professional Mourner
“I am a super empathetic person and cry/tear up often at the deaths of people I don’t even know. I would have kicked a** at this job.”
Professional Mourner
“I’ll start a business with you and we can cry at funerals, I cry at freaking bank adverts for god sake.”
Teacher
“There was a time when people respected teachers; they might be the only people in town with a degree. They made okay money and sometimes even got a rent-free residence to go with the school.”
Teacher
“Ironically, tell people you are a professor and you are seen as being on the cutting edge of your field, despite professors not making much more than teachers at the tenure level and much less at the adjunct level.”
Typist
“In the 50s, if you could type that was a real skill.”
Typist
“As a person who interviews college-age interns, I wouldn’t look down on someone for putting their WPM, especially if it was high. People of my generation (30s) are generally expected to be good typers because our main (only) source of internet use growing up was computers.”
News Anchor
“When I was a kid in the 80s, there were three channels, the nightly news was an important part of a family’s routine, and the anchor was respected as someone Americans trusted to tell them what was going on. Now it’s a bunch of people screaming.”
News Anchor
“As bad of a movie as it was, Anchorman 2 did a great job of outlining what happened.”
Librarians
“With most books being available for download, many libraries are cutting back and librarians are losing their jobs.”
Librarians
“When I was younger I’d always wanted to be a librarian. As I got older I spoke to a few and they told me not to become one because it was a dying profession.”
Blacksmith
“Way back I imagine it was the shizzle to be the guy with/making all the weapons. Nowadays, most people don’t see the talent required and just see it as a weird hobby.”
Blacksmith
“A guy who went to my school forged a chain mail vest, but everyone took the pee a bit. I felt SO bad for the guy as that must have been really hard work, just a couple of hundred years late to the party of when that was considered a valued trade.”
Full-Service Gas Station Attendant
“They would pump your gas, wash your windows, provide the small talk, give directions… then most of the country moved to self-service.”
Full-Service Gas Station Attendant
“My first job out of school was a full-service gas station. Regular customers, local gossip. 25 years since I worked there, local people still recognize me.”
Full-Service Gas Station Attendant
“I miss full-service gas stations. I used to pull up to full service every few fill-ups, and they would check my oil, tire pressure, etc.”
Stockbroker
“Buying stocks, mutual funds, and other investment tools used to be fairly murky water. The research was difficult, and folks in the profession felt more like gatekeepers than professionals. But they were necessary because you couldn’t just climb on the internet and buy an investment/financial product.”
Stockbroker
“Yup. Brokers used to be “in the know” guys, but now all the trading firms have brought traditional brokerage analysis in-house in favor of paying expensive partner-level guys by the hour.”
Philosophers
“Once were people who would tackle questions about humanity, purposefulness, politics, and life.”
Priests
“Back when my mother was a child, Priests were a force to be reckoned with. My mother’s generation started to think, ‘why are we worshiping these guys?”
Priests
Another Reddit user agreed: “From a highly respected community and spiritual leader to k***y di**ler.”
Encyclopedia Salesperson
“I always wondered why people made such a big deal about Encyclopedias and why they needed their special salesmen rather than just be sold at a bookstore.”
Encyclopedia Salesperson
“I saw some old ads and discovered that back in the day, an Encyclopedia set could cost as much as a new car. People in the 60s and 70s were paying upwards of $3k for them ($2k for a new car was not unheard of). It’s insane to think about, but that was the pre-internet era.”
Painter
“Painters were basically gods once.”
Painter
“High/late ren. Esque, beginning of Mannerism era, where artists were basically the cameras of the time. Art was also much more involved in their lives, with traditional marriage paintings, books of hours, and madonnas decorating the house.”
16 ANNOYING PHRASES THAT MAKE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY HATE YOU!
We wanted to know the most irksome things someone can say that turns you off! These Reddit users didn’t hold back!
16 ANNOYING PHRASES THAT MAKE PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY HATE YOU!
OBSOLETE MILLENNIALS: 14 SKILLS THEY LEARNED IN THE 90S THAT HAVE NO PLACE IN TODAY’S WORLD
A lot has changed since the turn of the century – just ask this nostalgic lot!
OBSOLETE MILLENNIALS: 14 SKILLS THEY LEARNED IN THE 90S THAT HAVE NO PLACE IN TODAY’S WORLD
FROM ‘OKAY BOOMER’ TO ‘UGH BOOMER’: 10 HABITS THAT IRRITATE MILLENNIALS
Each generation has its quirks. Most label it as an “old person thing” when asked why grandpa or grandma does something unusual. The defense from the other side is that “it was the way things were back in our day.”
FROM ‘OKAY BOOMER’ TO ‘UGH BOOMER’: 10 HABITS THAT IRRITATE MILLENNIALS
