• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Occupations That Have Faded Away

Status
Not open for further replies.
mw0njm. said:
he open'd a shop on covenrty rd. was it mansuni
Click to expand...
We have Farmers Markets in the Nashville/Franklin area, usually on a Saturday or Sunday and frequently you will find a knife sharpener there.
I do my own with a stone, steel or strop. I do remember them in Handsworth and Aston with a small cart or even a bike.
 
Richard Dye said:
We have Farmers Markets in the Nashville/Franklin area, usually on a Saturday or Sunday and frequently you will find a knife sharpener there.
I do my own with a stone, steel or strop. I do remember them in Handsworth and Aston with a small cart or even a bike.
Click to expand...
Nan had one screwed to the end of her kitchen cabinet, it was small square and had about 3 or 4 blades and you scraped your knife through it. And it screeched. But granddad sharpened the carving knife on a special big stone he kept outside. Or on a long tool , this had brought back that Sunday sound.
 
I Am Nico said:
Nan had one screwed to the end of her kitchen cabinet, it was small square and had about 3 or 4 blades and you scraped your knife through it. And it screeched. But granddad sharpened the carving knife on a special big stone he kept outside. Or on a long tool , this had brought back that Sunday sound.
Click to expand...
The long tool is a steel which most butchers had in addition to the stone. The butcher's stone was a wheel moved by a treadle which I had push while they sharpened. The stone is a heavy sharpener the steel for touch up. A strop was used in barber shops to get a very keen edge!
 
Richard Dye said:
The long tool is a steel which most butchers had in addition to the stone. The butcher's stone was a wheel moved by a treadle which I had push while they sharpened. The stone is a heavy sharpener the steel for touch up. A strop was used in barber shops to get a very keen edge!
Click to expand...
I forgot the word, thank you., Did it spark?
 
On my phone feed a Historical American subject came up, a lady, looks like 1930s had a a small bookcase strapped to her back she was a mobile Library. Did we have those here.?
 
I think we have now covered almost all likely old occupations , and are now just repeating what has been posted before. So thank you for your contributions. the thread is now locked
 

Factory lector​

1755131004635.jpeg

Night soil collector​


<p>Nationaal Archief/Collectie SPAARNESTAD PHOTO/W.P. van de Hoef via Wikimedia Commons</p>

This most revolting of occupations called for a weak sense of smell and super-strong stomach. Night soil collectors had the unfortunate job of removing human waste from people's privies.
 

Attachments

  • 1755131050858.jpeg
    1755131050858.jpeg
    185.6 KB · Views: 3

Doffer​

Doffers, for instance, were nimble-fingered young boys who worked in textile factories removing and replacing bobbins from the spinning frames​

​

1755131186295.jpeg​

Rat-catcher​

A profession straight out of the fairy tale books, rat-catchers used everything from ferrets and terrier dogs to poison and traps to control vermin in villages1755131310756.jpeg​

 

Buggy whip maker​

1755131465238.jpeg
whip industry was thriving in the 1890s with thousands of companies producing the essential riding accessory, but had all but vanished by the early 20th century as the automobile replaced the horse and carriage.
 

Ice-cutter​

1755131542016.jpeg
Before air con and refrigeration became widespread, ice cutting was big business Cutters would harvest tonnes of ice during wintertime, which would be stored in hay-packed icehouses, then distributed in towns and cities during the heat of summer
 

Caddy butcher​

1755131730667.jpeg
Caddy butchers specialised in selling horsemeat which, believe it not, was actually pretty popular in the UK up until the 1940s. The meat, which was always considered a cheap and somewhat undesirable
 

Stoker​

1755131831822.jpeg
A stoker or fireman was the unlucky individual tasked with tending the fire in the boiler of a steam train, ship or saw mill. The job entailed lots of shovelling coal in horrifically high temperatures, and was not for the faint-hearted.
 

Used teeth salesman​

1755131926180.jpeg
or much of the 20th century, access to decent dental treatment was limited, particularly in Europe, and many people who couldn't afford to visit the dentist resorted to buying second-hand false teeth when their pearlies had rotted away. The foundation of the NHS in 1948 ended the icky trade in the UK,
 

lift attendant​

1755132086866.jpeg
During the first half of the 20th century, lifts were manual and required a human operator. The occupation declined from the 1930s when automatic elevators began to replace the manual models, and only survives today as a luxury novelty in a small number of high-end department stores
 

Muffin man​

1755132264753.jpeg
Do you know the muffin man? In the UK, this cheery hawker would go from house to house at breakfast time carrying a tray of freshly-baked English muffins on his head. The practice continued well into the 20th century in some cities. This photograph of a London muffin man was taken in 1924.
 
I am closing this thread to move each occupation reference to its own or an existing thread dealing with that particular occupation. These lost occupations are often of interest to genealogists, family researchers etc, so information on each occupation separated onto individual threads will be more easily accessed.

Thanks for posting Pete.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top