# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/141 "2016-10-08T01:28:50Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > The Eggman lives, in Orlando. [Under a chicken,](http://www.eggmanart.com/) of course. At least if he wasn’t blown away today. I hear the storm is due to pass by around 8 O’Cluck. 8 O’Cluck? Were we separated at birth? (Eggman’s a hoot.) > [@Malthus](#): > > When I was a kid, in the early '70s, our family had a “chicken man”. > > One of my earliest memories was of hearing about this mysterious figure, who would arrive every Tuesday at 10:00 AM. I was never in at that time, because I was always in daycare or kindergarten. > > One day, I was home with a cold, and it was Tuesday! The “chicken man” was coming! I was very excited! > > Imagine my dismay when the “chicken man” turned out to be wrinkled old fellow in overalls with a cooler. According to my mother, when I set eyes on him I looked very sad, and said: “where are all his feathers?!”. Good story. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/142 "2016-10-08T01:38:07Z")
I’m sure there must be a few still around, but his days are probably numbered: Once a month, when I was a kid, there would be a knock on the door and this sonorous voice would bellow, **GAS MAN!** I think he read the gas _and_ electric meters. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/143 "2016-10-08T03:14:05Z")
I have a couple ideas: Punch card manufacturer. Even if you lump “keypunch operator” into “data entry” and declare the profession is not dead, I seriously doubt anyone is still making physical punch cards anymore. That isn’t something a hobbyist could reasonably do, and the demand in industry has probably decayed to nil. Paper tape manufacturer. Yes, data was once stored on perforated paper tape. No, you can’t make it in your basement. In fact, I could probably go through and list a lot of different memory and storage technologies which nobody uses anymore, meaning their manufacture would be a lost art. High on the list would be mercury delay lines: Glass tubes filled with mercury, which worked by having pulsed vibrations bounce around inside them until they were read back out. They’d be extremely difficult to build, and you’d only be able to use them if you’re going whole-hog in re-implementing some room-filling monstrosity from the early vacuum tube era; anything more modern would have a memory technology that’s much easier to work with and has a much higher capacity. There’s no modern call for those monstrosities, and they’re too difficult of a project for the basement tinkerer to even consider. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/144 "2016-10-08T03:22:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > [Hanging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States#Methods) is a legal method in Washington and New Hampshire. In WA, the inmate may choose that form. In NH, it’s listed as a legal backup method if others are not available. The last hanging took place in 1996. If I was on WA’s death row, I’d pick hanging over the others. > > Electrocution is legal in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Oklahoma. The latter is backup method only while the others allow inmate choice. The last electrocution was in 2013. One should never choose this method unless ones goal is create permanent nightmares in the witnesses.) > > (Last firing squad: 2010; last gassing: 1999.) Thanks, and I’m the next state down from New Hampshire and didn’t even know that. Not that I’m surprised…🆒 ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/145 "2016-10-08T03:27:26Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Being a child of the suburbs, I’ve only heard of one **Eggman** in the last 50 years. Sadly, gone since 1980 (Goo goo goo joob). > > All right, I’m going. There used to be what I believe were called butter and egg men, who sold these and dairy products generally door to door. I mean they drove a truck of some kind, could be summoned to neighborhoods (not sure if summoned is the right word). Locally, where I grew up there were bakeries,–and one that was famous and is still well remembered–who could be called and would send their trucks to certain streets. Ours was one of the lucky ones. They sold bread, baked goods, sweets. They were high end and top quality. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/146 "2016-10-08T17:37:13Z")
> [@john\_b\_2](#): > > There used to be what I believe were called butter and egg men, who sold these and dairy products generally door to door. I mean they drove a truck of some kind, could be summoned to neighborhoods (not sure if summoned is the right word). > > Locally, where I grew up there were bakeries,–and one that was famous and is still well remembered–who could be called and would send their trucks to certain streets. Ours was one of the lucky ones. They sold bread, baked goods, sweets. They were high end and top quality. The second I read “butter and egg men,” my brain said, _British term, **john b.** is from across the pond_, but five seconds later, I changed my mind, as this thread has amply demonstrated that there is still delivery of dairy goods and several terms for the delivery-people. I honestly don’t remember if our local milkman brought extra stuff in addition to moo-juice; in our area, that ceased in the late '60s when I was still a pre-teen. The bakery truck sounds like a nifty thing; we didn’t have that where I lived. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/147 "2016-10-10T13:03:52Z")
The dairy that delivers milk to us each week also delivers eggs (we get them sometimes) and bread. Not sure about butter but it wouldn’t surprise me. I just checked their web site and they seem to deliver everything: > **[Smith Brothers Farms](https://www.smithbrothersfarms.com/how-it-works)** > > Smith Brothers Farms provides the freshest milk and local food delivery in Seattle and the Puget Sound to more than 50,000 homes every week. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/148 "2016-10-10T16:13:30Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The dairy that delivers milk to us each week also delivers eggs (we get them sometimes) and bread. Not sure about butter but it wouldn’t surprise me. > > I just checked their web site and they seem to deliver everything: > > [Smith Brothers Farms](https://smithbrothersfarms.com/sbf.ordermanagement/manageorder) YOU MONSTER! Have you no mercy? 😃 The first thing that appears when you click the link is “Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Cookie Dough.” Holy schlaMOLY! I can feel my waistline expanding just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/149 "2016-10-10T17:42:45Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > My defunct profession was a pin setter at a bowling alley after school. I doubt if any lanes still have manual pin-setting anymore. I also used to manally load clay pigeons at a trap-shoot. There is a bowling Hall of Fame in St. Louis that still has one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/150 "2016-10-10T17:53:26Z")
> [@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 > groom (cared for horses) > cooper (barrelmaker) > teamster (in the original sense - one who drove teams of horses) > muleskinner (ditto, but for mules) The word here is\* obsolescent\*, not _obsolete_. There are over 9 million horses still in the USA. There are between 5,000 and 10,000 blacksmiths in the U.S… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/151 "2016-10-10T17:57:40Z")
> [@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. Plenty of Railroad police aka bulls still around. They still kick people off the freight trains. But their primary duties were not “brutal guards …hired to seek out and rough up hobos”, they also performed many security duties, Today many are certified law enforcement officers. wiki: \*"Some of the crimes railroad police investigate include trespassing on the right-of-way of a railroad, assaults against passengers, terrorism threats targeting the railroad, arson, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock or buildings, signal vandalism, pickpocketing, ticket fraud, robbery and theft of personal belongings, baggage or freight. Other incidents railroad police investigate include derailments, train/vehicle collisions, vehicle accidents on the right of way, and hazardous materials releases. \* ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198/152 "2016-10-10T18:14:56Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > 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. Heralds did more than that, they also registered Coats of Arms, and did political envoy work. They still register arms: [http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/](http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defunct-professions/767198.md?page=7)