19. Knocker-upper
As strange as it sounds, before the invention of the first mechanical alarm clock, people used to hire knocker-uppers in order to prevent them from oversleeping. Knocker-uppers shot peas at people’s windows, and they got paid for doing it! After the rise of alarm clocks, this job went to dust or, better said, got thrown out the window.
20. Lamplighter
In the late 1800s, as well as in the early 1900s, everybody relied on the lamplighter. The person employed to light the street lamps was essential back in the day. Now, only a small number of lamplighters exist because the vast majority of street lighting is, as we all know, electric.
