The "Jobs In My Lifetime That No Longer Exist" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sorting through a few files that contained photos I took in the past few months.  One photo drew my attention since it was one that I had also taken a few years ago, only in different locale.  It was back in 2012 that I took a photo of the Good Humor Man when I was visiting The Train Museum at Strasburg, Pennsylvania.  Then this past September I saw him once again at the Neffsville, Pennsylvania car show.  Got me thinking about how many Good Humor Men there may still be operating in the United States.  It brought back memories of my younger years when they would drive past our home on North Queen Street on the outskirts of Lancaster playing their musical theme from speakers on their truck.  Boy would that be a neat job to have!  Made me think of all the other jobs and occupations that used to exist at one time, but have vanished in today's world.  Talked to a few people as well as my wife and came up with a list to share with you.   Now, it depends upon how old you may be as to whether you remember the occupations or not.  Check them out and see if you remember.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The Good Humor Man was a regular in my neighborhood when I was a child.  

My brother sold newspapers on the street corner for a couple of years while growing up in Lancaster.  His spot was at the corner of McGovern Ave. and the Manheim Pike at the border of the Lancaster, PA city limits.

The soda jerk was still in existence when I was growing up, but it may be hard to find one today.  The best soda counter was at the Lancaster Train Station where you could get an ice-cream soda, grab a comic book off the shelf and enjoy yourself for half an hour. 

I actually found a photo of the soda fountain I talked about in my caption above.  Just loved the bar stools.

Our family had a doctor that would make house calls.  Tough to find one that will do that today.   

There were a few department stores in downtown Lancaster that would have elevators with someone to help you in the elevator and then take you to the floor you wished.  My favorite ride was in the Watt & Shand Department Store.  If I remember correctly, he or she would ring a hand-bell before closing the door.

Turkey Hill is a local dairy and you would see the truck in the neighborhood delivering treats to the houses. My favorite would be the orange creamsicle.  Once again, tough to find any ice cream truck that does that today.  

Mom had her milk box on the front porch of our home on North Queen Street.  I can still remember using it to hold the end of the rubber runner high in the air so I could race my marbles down the runner.

A few blocks from our house was the RCA Factory.  My brother and sister-in-law both worked there at one time.  At the time they worked at RCA the company was making TV picture tubes as pictured here.  Tough to find that today.

Pinsetters made minimum wage and had to work hard at the job.  I often thought I wanted to be a pinsetter, but never had the chance.

The shoe-shine boy could be found at a few places in Lancaster.  Used to be one around Central Market on market days.  At times I would see one at the Lancaster Train Station, trying to shine the shoes of a waiting patron.

Telephone switchboard operators were always busy.  Hard to believe that there are no more operators as pictured above.  My mom and dad had a party line in our home on North Queen Street.  When you picked up the phone, you listened first to make sure no one was talking before you made your call.  When the phone rang, it rang either one time, two times or three times and we were one of three families who were on the same line.  I still remembering picking up the phone when I wasn't supposed to and listening to the conversation of one of our neighbors.  Can you imagine that today.

The cobbler was found all around Lancaster.  They repaired old shoes as well as sold new ones.  I hesitated to add this job to my list since there still are two cobblers in Lancaster.  I wrote a story about one of them last year.  Seems that he is so busy that it takes days, sometimes months, before you can get your shoes, pocketbook or anything made of leather returned to you.