21 Historical Professions That Were Incredibly Popular In The Past But Have Died Out By Now

Perhaps one of the greatest fears of modern people is that artificial intelligence will come and take our jobs. Even representatives of creative professions, who have long boasted that no computer is capable of real creativity, watch how AI wins numerousart contestsand worry more and more every day.In fact, the development of humanity is one continuous graveyard of professions that were once very popular and in demand, and today, few actually remember that such professions once existed. And only various online threads like this one make us remember these professions that have sunk into oblivion.This post may includeaffiliate links.

In fact, the development of humanity is one continuous graveyard of professions that were once very popular and in demand, and today, few actually remember that such professions once existed. And only various online threads like this one make us remember these professions that have sunk into oblivion.

This post may includeaffiliate links.

Historical job: person using a tool outdoors, illustrating jobs that died out as society evolved.

If you needed to know the exact time, you could call a special number and a female voice would tell you the information. It was a lady with an accurate clock in front of her and she would tell you the time to the second when she called.

Woman operating vintage time signals in a historic job that fell by the wayside due to societal evolution and change.

Town crier informed the townspeople of the latest proclamations, news and information.

Man dressed in historical attire holding a drum, representing outdated jobs.

Before the automatic pinsetter was invented, bowling alleys had people picking up pins and setting them up so that play could continue.

Two boys working as pinsetters in a vintage bowling alley, representing jobs that died out with societal evolution.

Men cutting ice blocks on a frozen lake, depicting occupations that died out as society evolved.

Leech collectors (usually women) wandered through the ponds with their dresses hiked up, collecting leeches on their bare legs. They then collected the attached leeches and sold them to local doctors, who used them for bloodletting.

Woman in vintage attire engaging in a bygone job, illustrating societal change and evolution.

We play with friends until the evening, from time to time buying cigarettes from cigarette girls. But it’s late - we check the time with the time lady. We go home - it’s getting dark outside, and the lamplighters have already gone to work, lighting one gas lamp after another. We pay the knocker-upper in advance for an early wake-up tomorrow morning and go to bed. Tomorrow we have a lot of important things to do…Of course, this is a slightly exaggerated story, but you just can’t imagine how many different jobs there were in the old days! And recently, the user@the_marcoli_boyasked people on X what similar professions they knew. As of today, there are almost a hundreddifferent jobsin the thread, and the list is only growing. And we,Bored Panda, offer you the most interesting and unusual of these jobs.

Of course, this is a slightly exaggerated story, but you just can’t imagine how many different jobs there were in the old days! And recently, the user@the_marcoli_boyasked people on X what similar professions they knew. As of today, there are almost a hundreddifferent jobsin the thread, and the list is only growing. And we,Bored Panda, offer you the most interesting and unusual of these jobs.

Clock winders manually wound up mechanical clocks in homes, offices and public spaces.

Worker assembling clock faces, representing jobs that died out as society evolved.

Man in period clothing showcasing a string of rats, representing a job that has died out as society evolved.

Lamplighter’s job was to go around town extinguishing and lighting gas-burning street lamps.

Vintage photo of lamplighters, a job that has died out, posing with a street lamp.

“From collecting leeches to cleaning shoes, from sending telegrams to lighting street lamps -progressalways destroys some professions, but in return creates new ones. And, accordingly, the people who were engaged in these new professions produced significantly more with the help of new machines and devices.”

“That is why I am not so afraid that AI will sooner or later throw us all into the dustbin ofhistory. After all, we have been through this more than once over the centuries, it’s just that now we are entering a new round. And, perhaps, someday a web designer or programmer will also appear on similar lists of obsolete jobs,” Valery ponders.

Mudlarks scavenged in river mud for valuable items like coins or scrap metal to sell.

Two historical figures engaged in an obsolete job as human society evolved, illustrating societal change.

The Linotype Operator was a vital printing industry role, operating machines that cast lines of metal type for newspapers and books.

Workers operating linotype machines in an old printing press, showcasing jobs that fell by the wayside as society evolved.

The milkman was delivering milk along the streets, loudly calling on people around to buy milk and various dairy products.

Milk delivery van with people carrying crates, illustrating jobs that died out as society evolved.

In fact, not all of the professions presented here are actually so obsolete. For example, phrenologists still exist nowadays - adherents of this concept are quite sure that the shape of the skull or the specifics of appearance can be used to learn everything about a person’s character and personality.But the alchemists de facto turned into just usual chemists - after all, turning chemical reactions into money has always been damnprofitable.

But the alchemists de facto turned into just usual chemists - after all, turning chemical reactions into money has always been damnprofitable.

Human computers made calculations for numerous scientific, research and technology organizations.

Black and white photo of office workers in a bygone era, illustrating jobs that faded as society evolved.