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Occupations That Have Faded Away

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Maurice, looking through the paperwork for this I found in the 1939 register that my cousin Victor, (Biddle the chemist), was living with my grandparents in the Potters Hill court.

Any chance you would have known him as a boy?
 
Eric,

I'm pretty I sure I wouldn't have known him by name. I only went with my parents, generally my mother, to Barton's Bank to visit my grandmother and my Uncle Albert from about 1944 to 1960. If my uncle was there, I would be spending most of my time with him in his shed. He had a small lathe in there & various other tools and once built me a small electric motor. I met your grandmother on a couple of occasions, but she really spoke to my mother more so than me. His chemists shop at 38 Potters Hill only appears in the trade directories from 1962 onwards and my grandmother & uncle moved to Kings Heath in 1960 and I move to Dorset in 1961.

Maurice :cool:
 
BernardR said:
Chimney sweeps are doing well after a resurgence of solid fuel burning stoves. They even have their own association or guild - The National Association of Chimney Sweeps (NACS) formed in 1982 as a professional Trade Association. My Dad would have been surprised.
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they are still in use here in wales. we have open fires still.
 
Hi Pete,

It wasn't Maturi's was it? I remember they specialised in sharpening knives and tools,
including things like lawnmowers.

Kind regards
Dave
 
Vivienne14 said:
An occupation that hasn't entirely disappeared, but one that is less common. Demand for baskets must have significantly tailed off with the introduction of alternative containers and materials. Demand still exists, but I suspect it's mainly in the home decor/storage market. And are these products today erythi


Next timeanyone goes down the M5 look to the right just before junction 23 and the basket makers who used to be on the Taunton to Street road have moved out of their shed like factory into a big new modern premises. In Somerset basket making is alive and well
Bob
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norfolk brummie said:
Just been writing down forgotten scenes, that I remember.
.
These are some of the activities that have disappeared from day-to-day street scenes during the course of my life:

BARRREL ORGAIN GRINDER: The King of beggars with his upright-piano-like machine. He made quite a pleasant
sound.
BOOTBLACK: In railway stations, city centres. He knelt in front of his customers to produce a highly glossed shoe.

CINEMA COMMISSIONAIRE: Adorned the front of every super-cinema. Resplendent in his gold braided uniform.
CINEMA USHERETTE: Mini torch in hand, led the patrons down the aisle, and lit up a seat for each and everyone.
CINEMA ORGANIST: The Mighty Wurlitzer, played melodiously as it rose from the depths in front of the screen, to
disappear as the lights dimmed for the next film.

INSURANCE COLLECTOR: Collected small amounts from 'door to door'.

KNIFE GRINDER: He sharpened knives, with a wonderful tread mill driven apparatus with a large wheel on top.

LAMPLIGHTER: The system required only a long pole, with a hook on the end. He rode his bike, holding the long
pole on his shoulder.
LIFT ATTENDANT: Either sex. A major employment in shop stores offices and hotels, often calling out the name of
each floor, and the goods available.

PARK KEEPER: The uniformed 'Parkie' was the scourge of all small boys.
PETROL PUMP ATTENDANT: Surely the last to go. Always there, whatever the weather
POINT DUTY POLICEMAN: His white over sleeves could not be missed.

SOLDIER/SAILOR/AIRMAN: Sadly missed. Home on leave, or whatever. The sailor with his 'Bell Bottoms, and ship name on his cap. The soldier, with his regiment markings, and rank, and the airman, with his smart collar and tie, and the R.A.F uniform, so unmistakable.
STREET TRADER: He had a tray in front, suspended by a string around his neck, selling matches or shoe laces.

WATCHMAN: To be seen on every road works or building site, with a canvas type shelter, with his coke brazier on
which he warmed himself, and cooked his supper. He would light the hurricane lamps of an evening to
mark the site.

No doubt there are many more that I have not covered.

Eddie
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Reading through this thread was mot interesting, I noticed all of the occupations that had disappeared but over time and somewhat gradually.
Last year we went to an Apple store to buy my wife a new computer. We took with us her Mac pro (I'm not an Apple person) and wanted to transfer her information to the new computer. It was like we had taken in an ancient relic, most of the Apple folks had never seen one or knew how to turn it on!
In fact the manager went on to say that they could not do anything for us but give us the name of a person working in his basement.
I think the occupations will continue to change at an increasingly faster rate........

Just thinking out loud!
 
pjmburns said:
As a former secondary teacher I was told years ago that the majority of pupils would end up in jobs which hadn't existed when they were born.
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I used to teach my pupils that having transferable skills would make them more employable in the future. When jobs become defunct people need to avoid becoming deskilled and must try to draw on any, and all, skills they have acquired. This advice is becoming more and more relevant today. The other thing I used to stress was that all experience of work was important for acquiring knowledge and skills.
 
“Scavengers” - this is what they would have done. Viv.

BC73FA8F-2AC7-49FD-BAFF-3CB2B0D1844A.jpeg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
I can't speak for Birmingham - the only delivery people I ever saw were the regular milk, bread, coal. beer and mineral water vehicles. Some of these post ww2 were still horse drawn but many slowly gave way to motor vehicles or ceased altogether.
In smaller towns there were other delivery people such as fish carts - usually straight from the local boats/fish market - paraffin sellers, fruit and veg carts and so on. These were often a boon to those who could not walk far or were otherwise housebound. If people had cars and not many did until the early sixties, they would most likely be used by the man of the house to get to his place of work or do his job.
With the post war expansion of housing - even in small places - non motorised vendors could only reach a small number of their customers. The cause for their customer loss was that many town centre houses became shops and the occupants moved out to the new residential areas.
Now it seems that many of those shops have gone and the premises are dwellings once more. I guess Covid could increase that happening.
 
The only caller I can remember with a horse drawn cart was the rag and bone man. I can remember pestering my Mother for things to take in the hope of getting a goldfish.
Bread and milk were electric floats and coal was a lorry. I was fascinated by the ones with scales on the back for weighing the coal. My job was to count the sacks.
 
pjmburns said:
The only caller I can remember with a horse drawn cart was the rag and bone man. I can remember pestering my Mother for things to take in the hope of getting a goldfish.
Bread and milk were electric floats and coal was a lorry. I was fascinated by the ones with scales on the back for weighing the coal. My job was to count the sacks.
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Janice, I never got a goldfish but do the remember the milk and bread man in horse drawn carts.
 
sylviasayers said:
Also long gone are the delivery men, including bread, coal, laundry man who collected dirty laundry and delivered it washed and pressed a few days later. I haven't seen a chimney sweep in many years although I believe a few still exist.
[/QUOTE] milkman petrol pump attendant.
these still exist here
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In the Co-Op Dairies 1940's thread there is mention of milk floats pulled by horses both in Hall Green and Shirley. I think many horse drawn deliveries lasted longer after WW2 due to petrol and some other fuels being in short supply as they were imported. Fodder and coal was home produced.
 
Alan,

I lived in Knowle Road on the Sparkhill side of the River Cole and throughout the 1940s our milk was delivered via horse and cart.

Maurice :cool:
 
In the period 1945 to 1950, we had horse and cart deliveries by Co OP milk and bread, coal, co op and a couple of others , LMS and GWR parcels and holiday suitcase collection, the last one I can remember was Handsworth Dairies with their smaller carts and smaller horses. Then there were none
Bob
 
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