# Defunct professions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198 "2016-09-29T13:03:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/61 "2016-09-30T19:29:44Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Process for making bar iron or mild steel before the invention of the Bessemer converter: > > [Puddling (metallurgy) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddling_(metallurgy)) > > Note how the article uses the verb “were” pretty throughout in describing the process. The Bessemer converter was invented in the 1850s. It was a skilled occupation, and a very dirty, dangerous one that didn’t scale up easily. As per the wiki article: Thank you. Sorry to seem obtuse. Believe it or not I put “steel puddler” into wiki’s search box; it seems I didn’t scroll down far enough to see the word puddling. One more proof that a man has got to be smarter than his tools. Which I wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/62 "2016-09-30T19:40:50Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Contrast that to flint-knapping, which doesn’t. There’s some weirdos out there who shoot old flintlocks, like me. There are lots of places that sell us flints that were hand-knapped, by professional flint knappers. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/63 "2016-09-30T19:46:41Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I once had a job as an [IBM Proof Machine Operator,](http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/bankauto/) as did hundreds of workers in large downtown banks. I doubt if that exists anymore. Proof Operators are alive and well and make about $12/hour on average. There is really no automated way to encode the dollar amount on the MICR line of a check other than a proof machine. Even though some ATM’s and bank apps have optical scanners that “read” the check and decipher the amount, they are not yet reliable enough not fast enough to replace a human. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/64 "2016-09-30T19:59:25Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Witchfinders made something of a comeback in the 1980s, resulting in much trouble for heavy metal bands and daycare providers. It wasn’t [always](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchfinder_General_(band)) to the detriment of heavy metal bands. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/65 "2016-10-01T00:01:16Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > There was an episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s where a character was looking through want ads in the newspaper and noticing a lot of ads for “keypunch operators”. She said she didn’t even know what a keypunch operator was. (I was studying computer science in college at the time and was intimately familiar with keypunch machines.) That is a profession that is undoubtedly defunct now, although “data entry” is similar. > > –Mark My aunt started work as a keypunch operator at the state capitol in the 1970s. She was there until she retired, and went through all of the various upgrades, learning every new system as it was introduced. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/66 "2016-10-01T00:40:34Z")
I don’t believe there are any stokers. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/67 "2016-10-01T00:52:58Z")
Plague doctors. I’m pretty sure there are no more plague doctors. There are still scribes though. In Judaism, they’re called “sofers,” and make hand copies of the Torah, and an few other handwritten documents (like mezzuzah scrolls) for Judaism. ETA: No more castrati-- at least, the ones made for Catholic church choirs. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/68 "2016-10-01T02:52:02Z")
I’m surprised nobody else has mentioned this one. Then again, perhaps someone is still making money at it: Daily Herald Yeah, as in “New York Daily Herald” and various other newspapers which took their names from the age-old job\*. A herald (or harold) was a guy who shouted really loud – announcing the entrance of important people and telling people the news, originally of the court and the royal business. Later, heralds and cryers (not a professionally despondent tear-leaker) were the ones who worked for newspapers and shouted out the headlines – “…read all about it!” to sell newspapers in the street. And slowly the newspapers went to delivery boys and news stands and the heralds were phased out. I still see people selling newspapers in the middle of intersections, but they just stand there and wait for someone who’s waiting to make a left hand turn at the light to roll down their window and fork over some money. —G! It’s also interesting to note that many family names are basically professions used as surnames – sawyer, cooper, \_\_\_\_wright (or just “Wright” alone), farmer, potter, smith, et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/69 "2016-10-01T03:29:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > There are still a few of these around, for niche/artisanal markets or at historic sites, but as professions they’re largely obsolete: > > blacksmith I am not sure how few you think would make something “niche/artisanal,” but farriers are a solid trade with thousands of practitioners. (25,000 in the U.S. [according to this site](http://www.thefarrierguide.com/employment-guide/horse-industry-statistics-farrier/).) In contrast, there were just over 4700 heart surgeons (with declining numbers) in 2005 according to this [trade journal report](http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/120/6/488). Wrought iron workers are probably quite a bit fewer, [only 4,000 according to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacksmith#20th_and_21st_centuries), but the word blacksmith evokes the image of a farrier more than that of a decorative iron worker. Are farriers as common as they were in 1900? Certainly not. However, as long as people continue to employ horses for racing–thoroughbred & harness, hunters, jumpers, dressage, western, the various specialty gaited breeds, farming, (lots of Amish in PA, OH, KY, IN, MN and other locations), ranching, and simple pleasure ownership, there will be a need for farriers. I suspect that with over 130 racetracks, (and a lot of wealthy horse owners), grooms may be more prevalent than one would first guess, as well. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/70 "2016-10-01T03:50:12Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > There was an episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s where a character was looking through want ads in the newspaper and noticing a lot of ads for “keypunch operators”. She said she didn’t even know what a keypunch operator was. (I was studying computer science in college at the time and was intimately familiar with keypunch machines.) That is a profession that is undoubtedly defunct now, although “data entry” is similar. > > –Mark I did that during my “Gap Year”, which I took 30 years before it had a name. Several years later, I returned to the same company in a different department, where I was a data entry operator, and found that my old department no longer existed; the employees all transferred to other jobs, whether in or out of the company, and in time a couple of my old coworkers came to work there too. When a person does data entry, the data goes directly into the computer. When a person does (did) keypunch, the data had to be transcribed onto magnetic tape, punch cards, and who knows what else, which was then fed into the computer. The punch card machine was there when I started in 1981 and phased out less than a year later. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/71 "2016-10-01T03:54:23Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yes, except there are still horse-drawn carriages, and people still drive them, and they still use buggy whips. You can get brand-new ones today on Amazon. It’s exactly the sort of niche profession that can still exist, despite being obsolete. Contrast that to flint-knapping, which doesn’t. I used to live in an area with a large Amish population. Someone has to make those buggies. One of the area’s biggest employers was a company that made wine and whiskey barrels; the wood was harvested and milled elsewhere, and you could always tell when they got a shipment because you could smell the fresh wood while driving on the Interstate a few blocks away. Defective barrels were available for sale to the public, usually sawed in half, and the downtown trash cans were modified from some of these barrels. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/72 "2016-10-01T04:01:08Z")
I’ve been wondering for a few years now whether there are still any operational Linotype/Monotype machines anywhere in the world. So that raises the question, for this thread, whether any Linotype Operators are still working. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/73 "2016-10-01T05:10:05Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Not all that “very”, AFAICT. In the US alone nowadays there are estimated to be [over 9 million domesticated horses](http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/hsp/soaiv_07_ch10.pdf), which is nearly half as big as the US equine population at the start of the 20th century, and a sizable subset of domesticated horses still require hired grooms to take care of them… See Tables 1 and 3 in that article. There are many fewer horses in the U.S. than there used to be; the high point was a century ago. Think of all the livery stables in cities and towns across the country that don’t exist anymore - no jobs for grooms there. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/74 "2016-10-01T06:56:14Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > That’s just the problem. While such occupations have obviously faded into relative obscurity, you can always find _someone_ still doing it. > > [http://www.drivingessentials.com/Whips.php](http://www.drivingessentials.com/Whips.php) Not to mention that buggy whips and riding crops have other uses than the intended ones by people with certain inclinations. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/75 "2016-10-01T09:40:51Z")
Tinker. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/76 "2016-10-01T15:40:21Z")
's dammer. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/77 "2016-10-01T15:50:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > @ **malthus** : Somebody somewhere today knows how to knap a flint, tie it to a stick with grass & bark, and has killed a large herbivore using just such a self-made tool. And cooked and eaten part of the critter after starting a fire using makeshift found objects. And got a TV series out of it. I think the distinction is between people who keep the old knowledge alive alongside something else that is more likely their primary business, and those who are able to make a living out of only the old knowledge (which is probably not that many, if any). ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/78 "2016-10-01T16:21:10Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Do you suppose railroads still hire ‘bulls’ or ‘bull-men’ anymore? They were the brutal guards railroad companies hired to seek out and rough up hobos who tried to hop freight trains in the early 20th century. A related career which probably disappeared, at least officially, is the strike breaker ; the guys who’d not only get called upon to bash heads in when a strike is in effect, but also bust the teeth of “uppity” workers and suspected “reds” or unionists the rest of the time. [QUOTE=RivkahChaya] Plague doctors. I’m pretty sure there are no more plague doctors. [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure there are still some plague specialists at the CDC just in case 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/79 "2016-10-01T16:24:34Z")
> [@Ken001](#): > > Tinker. I first read that as T **h** inker, and was about to dejectedly agree :D. Are there still some newspapers that employ old-timey type setters ? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/80 "2016-10-01T19:43:39Z")
How about the venerable profession of [lamplighter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamplighter)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198.md?page=5)