What is a job that used to be common, but is now obsolete?

[Kayla45]

Milk man, back in the day milk was delivered and picked up in glass bottles.

[WindAtMyBack]

We had a milk man when I was a kid. Also an egg man. There was also an ice cream truck but we didn't use it. I think there is still an ice cream and dairy truck that comes around the neighborhood, but not on my street. There was also a bread truck and a truck that only delivered potato chips.

Paperboy. I delivered newspapers starting when I was about 10-11 years old. Almost all boys I knew had a paper route at one time or another.

Garbage men who actually carried the garbage bin from in back of the house out to the truck in the street. No automation for them. Those dudes were pretty buff.

Library book delivery truck. It came through once a week. You could order a book for next week, and pick up books that you ordered last week.

Septic tank cleaners. This still exists but is far less common. When the septic tank clogged, they'd come by and suck a thousand gallons of shit from the tank and go dump it somewhere - I have no idea where.

Railroad switchers who manually turned the thingy to move the track from one route to another.

Speaking of railroads - the guy in the caboose who would wave at all the kids as the train went by.

Utility meter readers are gone from my area, and probably gone from most other places. They wrote it down using paper and pencil - and had a hundred dogs a day who wanted to bite their head off.

[WhiteSteve]

My dad used to be a milk man. Old as hell, lmao.

Along with the milk man was the ice man. Before electric refrigerators, your house would have an “ice box”, with a slab or a block of ice in it. Basically a big cooler, haha. So I guess they had a guy who would deliver the ice, to keep the milk man’s product cold once you got it.

[Kayla45]

And the ice was sawed out of frozen lakes and packed onto trucks

[WhiteSteve]

That’s gonna make for some nasty ice water when it melts😷😂

[purplepoppy]

The cockle man. He used to go around the pubs selling seafood.

The popman who brought bottles of fizzy drinks to your home.

You still get milkmen but these days it's mostly larger orders to businesses wanting milk for the staff canteen.

[Caroline91]

Telephone operator, Projectionists, Camera Film Developers, Linotype Operators

[Kaneki05]

There is tons. Tons of positions within a workspace or a job all together has become so.
A lamplighter is gone now they used to go around lighting lamps before we got street lights that's an example of a job that's gone.
Now a position is something like in McDonalds we now use screens to take our order meaning they no longer need a dedicated person at till which = someone not getting employed as they don't need that extra person.

[Nik1hil]

😭 Don't Say Milk man😭😭

We still Have Milkman, who Milk the cows At Dawn and Dusk, put them in Large Cans..

They put the cans in Vehicle's and bikes and Come from Villages to Town to deliver fresh Milk in town to people to their Homes..

No bottle, from large Milk Cans, the milk goes directly into Home Utensils like a heating pot etc.

[bowenw]

A lot jobs that involved home delivery/service, like bread men, Fuller Brush men, Avon ladies, TV repairmen, and ice delivery men.

[AviatorTom]

Knight... obsolete except for Renaissance Faires.

[Anonymous]

Telephone repairman.

Those big buildings with no windows in every city, those were telephone switches. Now they're probably filled with computer servers, though they would have had to have been refitted with a tremendous amount of air conditioning to be able to do that.

[MrOracle]

Actually, 2 server racks could easily replace that entire building of mechanical switches. That would require less power and AC, not more. But those buildings have long since been vacated or converted. Probably the cell phone companies own them now. Land lines were all converted to digital 25 years ago.

[luvstoned4him]

For me it's mail man

Now we have the age of computers; emailing, Whatsapp etc. No one writes letters anymore.

[ohsheeT]

Paper boys and girls use to deliver the paper
Yes we had a milkman would bring milk, eggs , ice cream

[paledreams]

Phone operators at switchboards? How it's a computer at best lol

[FunkyMonkee]

Record store clerk, radio DJ,, tape editor, taxi driver.

[Still-alive]

Cable Guyyyyy

[Anonymous]

Driving all over for PBS contributions. Now, Can do online or by phone.

[Anonymous]

The guy who used to go around and empty the change out of telephone booths.

[midnightmoon05]

Typist, data enter clerk.

[TsundereMatrix]

Ice cream trucks. I rarely see them these days!

[Iron_Man]

I see them they come to my house every single day I live on a cul-de-sac

[TrueConfection]

Encyclopedia salesman.

[avery58]

Ice cream trucks I haven't seen one in years

[TrueConfection]

We have those where I live. My heart still jumps when I hear the music coming down my street. Sadly, the ice cream novelties run about $8 each.

[Iron_Man]

They come by my house every single day

[DJB72]

Coalman
Rag and Bone man

[exitseven]

Travel Agent.

[jackieistired]

That’s true, but I would still feel comfortable booking with one rather than online myself

[Iron_Man]

My mom used to do that

[tfan1]

Tv or electronics repairman

[DrPepper12]

Fluffers... That little blue pill...

[WhitneySnow]

Toll taker

[Iron_Man]

Newspaper delivery guy

[BarryLiverstone]

Bowling alley pin setter

[Ironco]

Is shoe cobbling a thing yet?

[eagle1951]

Gas station attentant.

[SaoirseS]

Elevator operator.

[jojouzumaki]

A telegraphist.

[Danny_dan92]

Paper boy

[beefcakebradybatson]

Elevator boy.