9 Bizarre Jobs Our Ancestors Did That No Longer Exist
<img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53273e5b6da8113249d9dac9-480-360/this-lady-will-make-sure-you-get-to-work-on-time.jpg" border="0" alt="This lady will make sure you get to work on time. " width="480" style="float: right;" />
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We could all be dinosaurs. The Economist predicts that robots are going to replace telemarketers, accountants, and retail workers, and Bill Gates says software bots will take even more jobs<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></span>
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This isn't the first time that whole swaths of the labor market have gone extinct: The Industrial Revolution did away with gigs that your great-great-grandparents might have had that sound preposterous to us today.</span>
Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistic's occupational classification list from 1850 and some research of our own, we found several bizarre-sounding occupations that are now totally extinct.
<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Additional reporting by Vivian Giang. </span>
<h3>"Computer" used to be somebody's title. Before electronics took over, these workers — usually women — would convert figures and crunch other numbers by hand.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/532359cb69beddd5730e22b4-400-300/computer-used-to-be-somebodys-title-before-electronics-took-over-these-workers--usually-women--would-convert-figures-and-crunch-other-numbers-by-hand.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Factory workers needed a little entertainment, so a lector read news and literature aloud to them.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53234e7eeab8ea71242e4d5a-400-300/factory-workers-needed-a-little-entertainment-so-a-lector-read-news-and-literature-aloud-to-them.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Before everyone had refrigerators, milk quickly went bad. So you'd need it delivered regularly by your milkman. With home refrigeration, this profession disappeared.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52ebd77069beddfe2a2368f9-400-300/before-everyone-had-refrigerators-milk-quickly-went-bad-so-youd-need-it-delivered-regularly-by-your-milkman-with-home-refrigeration-this-profession-disappeared.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Chimney sweeps cleaned out the soot that built up over winters spent burning wood to keep warm. </h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52279bfa6bb3f7b65131614c-400-300/chimney-sweeps-cleaned-out-the-soot-that-built-up-over-winters-spent-burning-wood-to-keep-warm.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Before we had selfies, we had daguerreotypes, the earliest kind of publicly available photograph. These images on polished silver were made by dedicated daguerreotypists.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53235dbdeab8ea17582e4d60-400-300/before-we-had-selfies-we-had-daguerreotypes-the-earliest-kind-of-publicly-available-photograph-these-images-on-polished-silver-were-made-by-dedicated-daguerreotypists.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Hemp used to be a major part of the linen industry. The people that separated the coarse parts of it were hemp dressers. </h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/4fbbacb96bb3f7ee49000002-400-300/hemp-used-to-be-a-major-part-of-the-linen-industry-the-people-that-separated-the-coarse-parts-of-it-were-hemp-dressers.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Rat catchers snagged the disease-carrying rodents that once ran rampant in residential neighborhoods.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53234ee7eab8eac1262e4d5a-400-300/rat-catchers-snagged-the-disease-carrying-rodents-that-once-ran-rampant-in-residential-neighborhoods.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>A quarryman would extract stone from the earth that may be used for various construction purposes, like a kitchen counter. </h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5227a03feab8ea6201edd916-400-300/a-quarryman-would-extract-stone-from-the-earth-that-may-be-used-for-various-construction-purposes-like-a-kitchen-counter.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>How did people get up for work before alarm clocks? They hired a "knocker-up" to tap or shoot peas at their windows at an appointed time. </h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53234d016bb3f794083875f0-400-300/how-did-people-get-up-for-work-before-alarm-clocks-they-hired-a-knocker-up-to-tap-or-shoot-peas-at-their-windows-at-an-appointed-time.jpg" alt="" />
<h3>Now, see jobs with incredible staying power:</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/522667e1eab8ea167cac0c3a-400-300/now-see-jobs-with-incredible-staying-power.jpg" alt="" />
<h2>9 Surprising Jobs That Have Been Around Since 1850›› </h2>
<b>See Also:</b>
<ul><li>Astrophysicists Announce Major Discovery Of Big Bang's Smoking Gun</li><li>The 'Mother Lode' Of All Apple Upgrade Cycles Is Coming This Summer With Two New iPhones, Says ISI</li><li>Man's Apartment Is Destroyed After AirBnB Guest Hosts An 'XXX Freak Fest'</li></ul></group><group id="610D333B-1FD6-4EC4-BB61-7036AF32E077" type="seoLabels"><seoLabels></seoLabels></