Economists like to cite "buggy whip maker" as an example of a profession whose career prospects were dimmed, and ultimately quenched, by the inexorable march of technological progress. Some other jobs which have become obsolete:
- leech collector
- harbinger
- powder monkey
- match girl
- mudlark
- child chimney sweep
- loblolly boy
- featherie maker
- faggot maker
- doctor maker
- maiden maker
- sprigger
- spragger
- legger
- pugger
Of course, many of these jobs existed long before OSHA regulations were in effect. So a few side effects were to be expected. I will return to this topic in a future post. For now, let us just be glad that the incidence of cancer of the scrotum has decreased, along with the waning use of children as chimney sweeps.
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