Occupations that no longer exist.

[Eyresandgraces]

I was changing the bed and remembered that in the 1970’s, so not that long ago, dh’s aunt was a tick turner for Fogarty’s.
She spent her whole working day turning pillowcases the correct way round and pointing the corners with her thumbs.
i can’t imagine such a monotonous job.

I found a list of old occupations but Tick turner is not listed.

A Tosher made a living by scavenging the Victorian sewers. Grim.

Please feel free to add any you can think of.

https://rmhh.co.uk/occup/a.html

We used to have a van like that touring the streets occasionally looking for things left out they could take. On one occasion, however, many years ago, I took the children to school. When we left, our front gate, an elderly bit of metalwork but still functioning perfectly well as a gate, was still there on its hinges. When I got back it had gone. We assume the men in the van took it. It did just lift off so was an easy target. Our new gate is more securely fastened!

I drive past an insurance shop on my way to work.
It’s been there forever, I often wonder how they are still in business. They have not long been refitted so they must be making money.

I can't remember the colours we used but there was definitely colour coding. There were filing clerks in every audit and tax division whose full-time job was filing the flimsy copies in the various client files. Partners' secretaries (very definitely not PAs at that point!) also maintained files of copy correspondence for all their clients which I suppose they reviewed to keep on top of what the managers had authorised. Nobody below manager level could sign a letter or send out a bill or tax form. For certain things the manager would get the partner to sign off. All about minimising risk in those days when accountancy partnerships had unlimited liability!

I have a memory of one coming to our door in Scotland when I was a kid. I was born in 1973. Could have been one of my Dad’s friends in fancy dress I suppose! 😂

I drive past an insurance shop on my way to work.
It’s been there forever, I often wonder how they are still in business. They have not long been refitted so they must be making money.

There are still some specialist insurance brokers, and I suppose as they need an office anyway some of them may as well have a shop?

There’s one near me in. Roth London, it seems to specialise in commercial small business cover, taxi firms, restaurants etc. a lot of those businesses locally are run by people from immigrant communities and I think they prefer a more personal way of doing business.

@Helico there are parish lengthmen in my county https://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/council-services/communities/rights-and-powers-communities/parish-lengthsman-scheme I often see the pickup trucks of the guys in villages local to me trundling round

Oh, and we have scrap metal collectors with the any old iron sound (and one who you can message to collect), coal men, milk men, ice cream selling usherettes (tbf its a volunteer run cinema so Sheila will lob you an ice cream from her tray while making sure you sit in the right seat and fill you in on the gossip), people who will pop out with a chainsaw as soon as a tree is across the road and in the villages you can get just about anything from a visiting van - I'm particularly fond of the mobile barber.
I think to get your knives/lawn mower blades sharpened you have to go into the bloke in town who does it, but at the same time you can go to the cobbler who gets leather from an old fashioned tannery

Aw yes, they were kept very separate although my Mum did meet Dad at the BSA as he was an engineer.

PP asked about ice cream vans. In my area they are frequent & also sell bread, milk, sweets, and cigarettes!! (No cigarettes to children afaik)

Yes! All our audit working papers were handwritten in pencil on squared paper. When I first started I tried to fill up the whole sheet of paper (hangover from paper shortages in the 1970s when we had a teacher who refused to give us a new exercise book if there was an unused half-page somewhere in the book). My senior had to review the working papers and sign them off. He lost no time in telling me that making it clear and easy to read was far more important than saving paper, so from then on I left wide margins and used paper with wild abandon. When we set off for client premises we had to carry all the files and stationery with us. Stacks of audit pads! I might just possibly still have one somewhere in the house. It had the firm's logo on it. I still like writing on squared paper, but I actually very rarely write anything by hand now. My handwriting is now abysmal as a consequence!

When I was working in the NHS, we used to have pads for ordering certain equipment and adaptations for people to use at home. We completed these by hand. The paper was self carbonned and consisted of 4 flimsies, white (top copy) yellow, blue and pink. The white went in the patient notes and I can't remember what happened to the other three but every one had to be accompanied by a photocopy of the top copy because the rest were so blurry but had to be sent because that's how the filing system worked!

Switchboard operators still exist

There's a 'rag and bone' man still operating in a market town in Norfolk, well there was five years ago.

Thank you @EBearhug, that was an interesting read. Yes, he did a lot of the stuff now done on computers by hand in the 1970s.

I've not worked in an office with a tea lady but if any of you live in Somerset and have ever taken the Berry's coach to London, you will know that there is still a tea lady on that service and it makes my heart soar each time.

My DH was a,typesetter, he remembers clearly picking up and placing the letters to make up.pages, it's a lost art now, all computerised

Gasman! He would visit the house and empty the gas meter of all the shillings that had to be fed in to keep the gas flow going. Then he would give the householder ten shillings back - presumably discount.

Telephone operator (where you'd dial 100 and be connected to the operator if you were having problems with a call).

Petrol pump attendant.

Shorthand note takers are still used in the criminal justice system

😂 I was the same.

I assume something to do with the close woven fabric which was used to contain the feathers/down in pillows. It was usually black and off-white stripe and was called 'ticking'.

Our Rag n bone men drove a horse and cart, and rang a large hand bell (London in the 60s).. proper 'Steptoe and son'!

They still exist around here, but are scrap dealers with a truck these days.

I was disappointed in Germany - heard an ice cream van outside. It was the rag & bone man's jingle instead.