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Occupations That Have Faded Away

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Nico said:
I would think with modern machines now, one of my birth mother's early jobs would be defunct. She worked at Typhoo and she operated a lever that guided the tea in to packets as tea was bought in, those days. She was in the clouds and she was not operating the leaver, the packets went one way and the tea the other and she was sacked.

My mum's first job was in a galvanised bucket factory. I wonder if they are still made. Her first weekend job was cutting weighing and patting butter, and wrapping it. In Miss Cook's shop. Near Stourbridge.
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mikejee said:
One way to get rid of chilblains, let rats nibble them. But we are getting off subject.
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I know we have pest controllers but they used to be called rat catchers. My mate was an apprentice compositor. The printers used to get visited by the rat woman. They used to sing Rat woman to the Batman theme.
 
Nico said:
I would think with modern machines now, one of my birth mother's early jobs would be defunct. She worked at Typhoo and she operated a lever that guided the tea in to packets as tea was bought in, on those days. She was in the clouds and she was not operating the leaver, the packets went one way and the tea the other and she was sacked.

Mu mum's first job was in a galvanised bucket factory. I wonder if they are still made.
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Nico, seems like most galvanized buckets come from India China or Vietnam!
 
Nico said:
I would think with modern machines now, one of my birth mother's early jobs would be defunct. She worked at Typhoo and she operated a lever that guided the tea in to packets as tea was bought in, on those days. She was in the clouds and she was not operating the leaver, the packets went one way and the tea the other and she was sacked.

Mu mum's first job was in a galvanised bucket factory. I wonder if they are still made.
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yes

Galvanized Metal Buckets fabrication in London UK ...​

Manufacturer | Midland Holloware Limited | England​

 
Have seen firms described as "Hollowware" manufacturers so many times in directories. Did not realise the term was still in use commercially
 
Pete,

You can't beat a good galvanised bucket and I know that the Indians make and sell thousands of them. I didn't realise that they were still made in the UK - good quality stuff I am sure. Watching our Greek builders, they tend to use emply buckets that once contained emulsion paint or other water-based treatments - 5 or 10 litres - and it is good to see that these get recycled many times.

Maurice :cool:
 
sospiri said:
Pete,

You can't beat a good galvanised bucket and I know that the Indians make and sell thousands of them. I didn't realise that they were still made in the UK - good quality stuff I am sure. Watching our Greek builders, they tend to use emply buckets that once contained emulsion paint or other water-based treatments - 5 or 10 litres - and it is good to see that these get recycled many times.

Maurice :cool:
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i have had one for years. they sell and use them here on the milk farms,and becouse open stinky coal fires are still in use,:mad:folks put the hot ashes in them.
 
sospiri said:
Pete,

You can't beat a good galvanised bucket and I know that the Indians make and sell thousands of them. I didn't realise that they were still made in the UK - good quality stuff I am sure. Watching our Greek builders, they tend to use emply buckets that once contained emulsion paint or other water-based treatments - 5 or 10 litres - and it is good to see that these get recycled many times.

Maurice :cool:
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One of my dad's first jobs wasat a factory in Dudley that made bucket ears which were the metal lugs to which the handle was attached. I think he may have served his apprenticeship there. He was a press tool maker. This would have been during the first world war (he was born in 1903).
He would travel by train from Smethwick to Dudley Port. One day he was doing the return journey and he fell asleep and found himself in Coventry!
 
Don't know whether anyone watches Salvage Hunters - The Restorers on Quest but I find it fascinating. Such talent and patience as well as knowledge. Well, yesterday the furniture restorer mentioned a certain type of wadding that was used as padding together with horsehair. The wadding was apparently made from rags and must have been collected by the rag and bone man who we don't see these days. This of course has now been replaced with modern stuff but the restorer likes to use the old materials where he can for authenticity. This must have been sorted by 'rag girls' which I've often seen mentioned and then shredded - how I don't know.

However, it also put me in mind of a man who used to own a business called 'Cleaning Materials' but was always referred to as the 'rag man'. He used to come at the end of our jumble sales and buy up anything and everything. We didn't get much for this but it saved us going to the tip and we knew it would be recycled (although that word wasn't used much 40 years ago). I also remember large bags full of different coloured cloths being at the painters I used to work for but I expect these have now been discarded due to health and safety.
 
There was a whole industry grown up out of reworking garments. If you do a search for Shoddy and Mungo, you will see how garments were recycled.

I cannot quite remember why bones were collected, it may have been in the pottery industry, for fertiliser or even explosives.
 
We used to buy sacks of used rags for use in the workshop, sometimes they were not very clean , I recall one bag was quickly returned when we opened it and found a turd. :eek:

There are companies around now who will buy your used clothing, they export it by the container load to the poorer parts of the world, pay anything from 25p to £1 a kilo and they collect from your door.
Here's an example.
https://www.bobscash4clothes.com/
 
One of my ancestors was called a "marine store dealer" but it just means he was a dealer in old clothes and rags, on a census he had a second-hand clothes shop. Perhaps that's why I love charity shops and jumble sales!

Eric, that also happened to my daughter-in-law who was sorting in a charity shop, after that she always wore gloves.
rosie.
 
I remembered about the glue from old bones. Was it made from animal hooves too?

I think charity shop workers deserve a medal. Graham's cousin worked in one for some time and they got a lot of abuse from some customers too. What's all that about?

My great-grandmother was a 'clothes dealer' in Summer Lane at the turn of the 20th century and my daughter and I both like charity shops etc. We swap clothes around, with my cousin too, but I must say that whatever I buy my daughter looks much better in it than I do!

I'll have a look at those sites - thank you.

A few minutes later: I've looked at those sites you mention and they both very interesting. Especially the 'Choddy & Mungo' one. Great picture of a rag grinding machine.
 
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When I first went to Cadbury's , there was a large bag of (clean, no turds) rags in the washing area for cleaning benches etc. When they replaced this with large paper rolls we were not too keen , as the paper was not as resilient.
Certainly bones were used to manufacture glue (I once visited a glue factory and the smell was awful). They were also used to make what was called artificial manure, by treatment with sulphuric acid.
 
Glue size was made with bones and quite commonly used by decorators, signwriters and guilders.
 
Even then it was for charity, so not someone making his living. Would think one would ha eto go back pre WW2 for one fulltime
 
Not completely faded away, but almost, bus conductors/conductorettes/conductresses. Wonder if these ladies still had jobs a few months later with the ending of WW2 ? Viv.

7E3E416C-DC61-49F2-875B-1C9741B1E367.jpeg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
Well there are five as well in the photo, which refers to a strike which is located at Digbeth Midland Red depot.
 
Nico said:
Re the Urine Collector job. I read a good book I am sure it was called Black Rain, apertaining to coal dust that got in to everything, even the rain. There is another book with this title, mine was about Welsh miners. In it there was a character a lady who emptied the loos every day and collected it in buckets her name was Sarah The Pissio.
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people in wales are named after there occupations ie jones the death (undertaker)
 
Morturn said:
I am sure Maturi’s also had a small shop in Gosta Green, small half timbred place
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Maturi's had a van in the 1960s and 70s which came to Bearwood, Smethwick for knife grinding. I see now that it was a big family active in the trade in many parts of the country. There's a sharpening shop currently in London which traces its origins to Peter Maturi. https://www.kitchenknives.co.uk/about-sharpening-shed/

I think they came to the houses about twice a year for carving kitchen knives and had a more regular service for butchers' knives.
 
David Neale said:
I worked as the Assistant works manager at JJ and H Hossell in Coventry Street in Digbeth,they were a firm of Fellmongers,can anyone guess what a fellmonger was?? I`ll let you all know in a few weeks!
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Yes one of my ancestors was a Fellmonger and I'm guessing from the addresses I've gathered from various sources he worked at Hossells.
 

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From the middle ages there were many trade guilds in various towns and cities in the UK but very few still survive outside the City of London.
One that does still exist is The Fellmongers Company of Richmond Yorkshire.
See https://www.fellmongers.org.uk/ for a note about their history
 
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