Taking a look back at the jobs of yesteryear

In the relatively recent past, science fiction authors and conspiracy theorists have hypothesized that machines and/or computers could one day take over the world. Even though it is true that movies such as Terminator and Eagle Eye are recognized by the majority of the population to be no more than fanciful entertainment, there may be cause for some alarm. NPR has addressed this widely acclaimed issue by bringing to the public’s attention some of the “Jobs of Yesteryear” that are now obsolete due to the technological advances of our society.

Lector
If you’ve ever read the book “Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man,” then you know what a lector is. However, for those of you who have not read the book, a lector was a person whose sole job was to read aloud to the workers employed in a cigar factory. The lector would sit, usually on a raised platform in the middle of the room, and read books, newspapers, or other forms of current events of interest for hours on end, to provide those who were rolling cigars with entertainment from their monotonous jobs. Lectors received a relatively high wage and were held in great esteem because they could read and write, whereas most of the factory workers could not.

Elevator Operator
In the early part of the century, elevator operators were in great demand, but around 1950, the need for them started to dwindle as the installation of fully automated elevators became popular. Now, they are only seen in old apartment buildings and the occasional tourist sites such as the Eiffel Tower and the Space Needle (located in Seattle, Washington). 

Pinsetter
Until 1936, when the automatic pinsetter was invented by Gottfried Schmidt, the operation of a bowling alley was dependent upon “pinboys” and “pingirls.” The job of these young people was to remove knocked over bowling pins during the middle of a bowler’s turn, to reset them at the end of a round, and to return the used bowling balls to their owners.

Iceman
Although ice is still delivered to schools, restaurants, and catering companies today, the form and use of it has changed. Before electric refrigerators became widely used in the 1940s, deliverymen had to carry huge chunks of ice to houses every few days in order for family’s to keep their iceboxes stocked so their food would stay cold. People would hang signs in their windows letting the icemen know how much ice they needed to have delivered. The ice was cut from lakes or rivers in the North then shipped South, and blocks of it could be anywhere from 25 to 100 pounds.

Lamplighter
In the 19th century, gas lights became the preferred method of illuminating streets at night. Up to that point, and even for years after, lamplighters were used to turn each light on manually. With the aid of a lantern or matches, and a ladder or long pole, these people would go to 200 to 300 streetlamps every night, lighting each one individually. Then they would return at dawn and go to each one again, extinguishing them.

Milkman
At some point or other in their lives, most people have heard the expression referring to children who are different from their families as: “Where did he come from? Must be the milkman’s.” Well, the phrase seems to be a bit outdated, considering that by 2005 the Department of Agriculture surveyed that less than 0.5% of consumers had their milk delivered. However, before it became more convenient to buy milk at the grocery store, nearly every house had their milk delivered, or they produced it themselves.

Typesetter
In the present day, manual printing presses are used only for posh printing shops that produce highly customized works such as stationary, invitations, and special edition books. But before 1960 when phototypesetting became the norm, human typesetters had to manually place each individual piece of lead type into wooden frames. This created the layout for the pages produced in newspaper offices and publishing houses.