# Remember these occupations?



## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Just for perspective I'm under 60.......

When I was growing up, these were everyday jobs for everyday people. Now most have disappeared. Please add to the list as it should be interesting. We may have to explain some of these to the younger generations. I'll start off with a few:

Milkman
Home Pride Breadman
Fullerbrushman
TV/Radio repairman ( my father used to do housecalls)
Switchboard operator
Telephone Operator
Typist
Stenographer
Shoe Salesman
Typesetter
Butcher
Tailor
Cobbler ( to repair shoes)
Pin boy


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

1) Produce Peddler
2) Standard Coffee salesman that came to all homes selling coffee .
3) Home Doctor visits
4) Mister Softee (Columbus Ohio)
5) Yummy Boys, (,,, Freckers Ice Cream Co. peddled a 3 wheel bike with ice cream freezer mounted on front selling ice cream in neighborhoods, Cols Ohio)

Telephone operator = Number Please,,,, ours was 31W2, never will forget it..


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## ShakeDown (Apr 5, 2004)

Not sure if they still exists, but Charles Chips? Home potato chip delivery. Used to seem em running in the 80's around chesterland all the time.


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## leftfordead88 (Oct 22, 2007)

I'm a shoe salesman


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

We had an "egg man" that delivered fresh eggs once a week from the back of his station wagon. I also remember the insurance agents my dad did business with would make regular house calls if something needed signed or they just wanted to pitch him a new policy. And we lived in the 'burbs too...it wasn't rural.


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## samiam (Jan 6, 2011)

leftfordead88 said:


> I'm a shoe salesman
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


hey me to kinda. I also still go to a butcher. Grocery store me sucks


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## bassfisher1 (Mar 24, 2010)

1.Home delivery for ice.
2.Man with a shetland pony taking pictures with kids on it's back,cowboy hat,and chaps.
3.Diper service.
4.Sky writeing.
5 Home juice delivery.
6. Home drycleaning service.
7 Meter readers.

Those were the days!


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

leftfordead88 said:


> I'm a shoe salesman
> 
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Hey sorry about that. We had a guy who would take your order at our house for shoes/ work boots and deliver them two weeks later....

And I know there are some butchershops around but all the groceries used to have one no prepackaged meats...


Add the McNess man - guy used to go door to door selling spices and kitchen stuff.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Net said:


> I also remember the insurance agents my dad did business with would make regular house calls if something needed signed or they just wanted to pitch him a new policy. And we lived in the 'burbs too...it wasn't rural.


I still do it that way. Enjoy the across the kitchen table business. An 88 year old client gave me 2 dozen cookies today as I reviewed their stuff....


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## Breakaway (Jun 14, 2006)

Full service gas station Guy. Brown's football players that did their jobs. LOL Sorry, I'm a big fan and would like to win a super bowl in my lifetime. 

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## toad (Apr 6, 2004)

Jewel Tea salesmen. I remember coming home from school in the early 60's and there would be the Jewel Tea guy. He always hand out free samples of candy.


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## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

Breakaway said:


> Full service gas station Guy.


--Thats the only way you can get gasoline in New Jersey, state law there.



Heres a few
-encyclopedia salesperson...encyclopedias in general
-paperboy/kids delivering papers (all adults now)


cobblers are still around as I get shoes repaired still


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## Bassnpro1 (Apr 6, 2004)

Pay phone owner. My dad owned them for years. I would get a cut if I rolled the hundreds of dollars of coins up for him.


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## boatnut (Nov 22, 2006)

I remember way back when that that either the water or gas meter was located inside the house. the meter reader had enough key's on his hip to sink an elephant. If you weren't home he'd just let himself in and read the meter. Of course we never locked our doors back then. I can still here the "meter reader here" and the sounds of footsteps.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

bassfisher1 said:


> 1.Home delivery for ice.
> 2.Man with a shetland pony taking pictures with kids on it's back,cowboy hat,and chaps.
> 3.Diaper service.
> 4.Sky writeing.
> ...



We had twins and would have been lost with out it.


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## scallop (Apr 1, 2007)

How about the customer service rep that actually gave a squat?


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

Most jewelry stores and some drug stores had an old guy in a little corner cubby that did on the spot watch repair for any brand except Timex. For some reason no one could repair Timex, always had to send them in.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

not totally gone yet but nowhere near what it was 
TRAVEL AGENT and Photo Developer


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

Shoeshine Boys,,,
Years ago my mom and dad had PUCO numbers (permits) that they rented out someway to truckers,, Can't remember the whole story on that..


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Big Joshy said:


> not totally gone yet but nowhere near what it was
> TRAVEL AGENT and Photo Developer


Remember the little Photo Bug booths in parking lots? They're so gone that searching for an image of one brings disappointing results.


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## FISNFOOL (May 12, 2009)

Elevator Operator


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

ShakeDown said:


> Not sure if they still exists, but Charles Chips? Home potato chip delivery. Used to seem em running in the 80's around chesterland all the time.


I remember Charles Chips in the Hamilton area. 
When I was a kid I had a paper route after school, kids dont do that any more.

Nowadays there are a lot of jobs being killed by the internet. You can do a lot of things on-line that someone used to get paid forand pay their share of taxes doing.


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## -C-IMP (Apr 25, 2008)

Paper rags man (horse drawn scrap wagon)
scissors man (push cart w/umbrella, sharpened scissors,knives)
hurdygurdy man (man w/monkey)

I guess I'm a little older, LOL.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

FOSR said:


> Remember the little Photo Bug booths in parking lots? They're so gone that searching for an image of one brings disappointing results.


You mean the old Fotomat booths?


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## RushCreekAngler (Jan 19, 2011)

Film developer -I worked part time doing that at a target in lancaster oh for a few years. Mostly digital and crap (disposable) cameras. We were one of the few places that still did film in town.
Also, remember kodachrome - they finally took it away

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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Net said:


> You mean the old Fotomat booths?


Same idea, just a different company. The top of the booth was made to look like a ladybug shell. Strange to think that was a viable business model for a while at least.

Some of the old trades are still there if you look for them. For example there are a few shoe repair shops around me, and last fall I invested $70 to put new Vibrams on my big Rocky boots.

Not that it ever snowed enough to wear them.


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## Wow (May 17, 2010)

Snakecharmer said:


> Hey sorry about that. We had a guy who would take your order at our house for shoes/ work boots and deliver them two weeks later....
> 
> And I know there are some butchershops around but all the groceries used to have one no prepackaged meats...
> 
> ...


My son is a butcher at Buehlers in Medina. Great meat dept. Old school service too. --Tim


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

key makers. used to be small shops and that was all they did. now a machine does it for you.


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## Darwin (Apr 12, 2004)

I used to work on a farm and the number one cash crop for the farmer was tobacco. It was all done by hand with the exception of setting the plants. I have not seen a tobacco field for several years now.


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

toad said:


> Jewel Tea salesmen. I remember coming home from school in the early 60's and there would be the Jewel Tea guy. He always hand out free samples of candy.


You don't happen to look alot like that guy do you? I know a guy that said he looked just like the mailman...


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

I know the older New Philly guys will remember the old Puritan Laundry in New Philly. Our neighbers in town were part owners. Their son had a home pick up and delivery route that went from NP to Hopedale. Ah for the good days....


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## toad (Apr 6, 2004)

> You don't happen to look alot like that guy do you? I know a guy that said he looked just like the mailman...



nope, I look more like the milkman


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## V-MAX200 (Oct 16, 2007)

I'm the meat manager at the Wooster Buehler's. We still have butchers. We still cut and grind the meat every day!


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Copy clerk - I have a copy press from before the days of typewriters. Business correspondence was written in longhand, with special slow-drying ink. Clerks would write out a page, then layer it with onion paper to make copies in the press.

It can turn a pop can into a coin. I trash-picked it off a burn pile in Knox County.

It resembles this one.


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## bad luck (Apr 9, 2009)

Darwin said:


> I used to work on a farm and the number one cash crop for the farmer was tobacco. It was all done by hand with the exception of setting the plants. I have not seen a tobacco field for several years now.


You don't have to go to far into KY to see tobacco fieds


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I was a home delivery milkman for a dairy in Columbus in 1973 for 18 months.

It was nice except for getting up at 4 am every day. 4, 10-11 hr days, off on Wed, Sat, Sun and 4 weeks vacation first year

That was a interesting job for sure. They discontinued that service a few years later


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

FOSR said:


> Copy clerk - I have a copy press from before the days of typewriters. Business correspondence was written in longhand, with special slow-drying ink. Clerks would write out a page, then layer it with onion paper to make copies in the press.
> 
> It can turn a pop can into a coin. I trash-picked it off a burn pile in Knox County.
> 
> It resembles this one.


My grandpa in Ky had a contraption that looked simular to that. He made his own Chaw , Tobacco, honey, molasses,(forgot the exact recipe) and would press it between boards and make big bar that he would them cut into plugs and chew. Tough man, I remember trying it and getting sick. Made his own pipe tobacco also,, smelled so good, I think it had Bourbon in it and he aged it in kegs for a year or so. I would kill for one of his cured hams.or bacon slabs....


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## Reel em In (Jun 20, 2004)

Hey Hatchetman. I remember that Puritan Laundry guy. We must be from the same nieghborhood. I think I remember a guy named Ross who delivered ice. Remember him.


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## 1mecheng (Jul 28, 2009)

I don't remember the name ... but there was a special service that would come in and show the housewives how to work their new appliances.

Also, how about Full Service Grocery, where you would pull up and they would load your groceries in the back of your car for you (Heinen's used to do this).

Finally, you could make the claim that trolley car drivers were replaced by bus drivers and transit operators.

Dan


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## Pigsticker (Oct 18, 2006)

johnboy111711 said:


> key makers. used to be small shops and that was all they did. now a machine does it for you.


Its progress for sure. I remember when id need a key made then id get 3 made in the hopes 1 would actually work. Nowadays 100% of them work with the computers help.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

FISNFOOL said:


> Elevator Operator


LOL! My third job. 

If you annoyed me in some way I could turn your stomach inside out with a flick of the wrist. 
Or If I liked you, move you very quickly 15 floors and never put a ripple in your coffee.

If you have never had a professional driven E ride you missed out. Also a miss if you have never rode up hammer down with the rear freight door open!

To this day it still drives me nuts not to have manual control of these slow poke lifts we have now days.


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## Buck36 (Apr 10, 2008)

ShakeDown said:


> Not sure if they still exists, but Charles Chips? Home potato chip delivery. Used to seem em running in the 80's around chesterland all the time.


It used to be the coolest thing to see that truck come around the house.


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## RushCreekAngler (Jan 19, 2011)

Net said:


> You mean the old Fotomat booths?


I drove by one of those old photo booths (not sure what it was originally) that's now a coffee drive-up near stratsburg - 1113 u.s. 250, stratsburg us
if you google map it, you can see it with street view.


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## olewhiskers (May 10, 2009)

Gas Station attendant is something i havent seen in years. I always wanted to be one cause my great uncle owned an Ashland station when i was a kid. Thought it was neat that he would check oil top off washer fluid clean windshield and fill-er-up.


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## boatnut (Nov 22, 2006)

1mecheng said:


> Also, how about Full Service Grocery, where you would pull up and they would load your groceries in the back of your car for you (Heinen's used to do this).Dan


Buehler's still does this , at least the one in Delaware. They put them in tubs and on a conveyor then you drive under a portico and they load them in car for you. They even have treats for my mutt, LOL. Love that store!


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

My 82 yr old mother talks about her daily life in the great depression and WWII like it was yesterday. She can't believe she's lived through so much change. I'm only in my early 50s but after reading some of these responses I find myself saying the same thing about the baby boom era. It was like living on another planet.


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

Early 1960's, Muskingdom River,,,, Guys collecting freshwater clams/mussles


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## floater99 (May 21, 2010)

Newspaper boy,I did Pln Dlr,Cleve Press,West Side News.Paper X man aka rag Man I can still hear him yelling from his horse and cart,knife sharpener rode arnd on a 3 whlr sharpn stone mounted on rear.Street sweeper,he pushed around a cart with a large barrel on it & broom and shovel.I delivered fresh baked goods from grandparents bakery.
How abt kids asking to cut or shovel youre snow.


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

Kids who sold The Grit newspaper/magazine,, and kids who sold that awful black Salve


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

I work in the grain industry. One job thats getting harder to find is a feed mill. Most elevators just get deliveries of bagged feed in anymore instead of grinding and making it up themselves


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## seethe303 (Dec 12, 2006)

Seneschal
Podyachy
Cup-bearer
Mudlark


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

seethe303 said:


> Seneschal
> Podyachy
> Cup-bearer
> Mudlark


 I think the OP said the last 60 yrs -- not since the middle ages!


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## Nauti cat (Nov 30, 2009)

use to take a grocery list to the store for my mother every Sat morning, the butcher would cut/grind all the meat. Sat night 6pm grocery would be delev. My dad drank Silver Top beer, the beer dist would delev every Sat 2 case bottles only. We had coal delevery, I use to help the guy shovel it into coal bin paid $1 a load 1955 I was 10. Oh the good old days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

One more, My dad had a friend Joe the Plasterer.....My the lates 70's if not earlier everything was drywall.


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Old humor:

What did the painter say to the wall?

"Give me one more crack like that, and I'll plaster you!"


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## Berliner (Feb 23, 2011)

Music Stores - A place you would buy cassette singles and CDs


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## jmitchell1009 (Jun 22, 2012)

olewhiskers said:


> Gas Station attendant is something i havent seen in years. I always wanted to be one cause my great uncle owned an Ashland station when i was a kid. Thought it was neat that he would check oil top off washer fluid clean windshield and fill-er-up.


Mandatory in NJ and OR. I couldn't believe when I pulled up to a station in NJ a couple years ago. Against the law to pump your own gas.


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## Capital outdoorsman (Mar 27, 2006)

Berliner said:


> Music Stores - A place you would buy cassette singles and CDs


How about just about the entire movie rental industry?

Another sad thing dying out is the lone dairy farmer in my home state. Most can't afford to run 1 self sufficient dairy farm due to restrictions placed on the cost of what they produce. Corporations are buying them out and hiring the farmers to help run gigantic corporate farms.


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## boss302 (Jun 24, 2005)

Also, how about Full Service Grocery, where you would pull up and they would load your groceries in the back of your car for you (Heinen's used to do this).

Dan[/QUOTE]

They still do, if I'm not mistaken. About 20 years ago (wow thats scarry) that was my job.....good company to work for. I think l started at 3.80 and min wage was 3.35 after a few years I made more than all my friends and had vacation, holiday pay, and a few benefits. 


How about pipeline walker.....walked pipelines to inspect for leaks. How would you like to walk miles and miles everyday in all weather conditions? 



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## Nikster (Mar 14, 2007)

-C-IMP said:


> Paper rags man (horse drawn scrap wagon)
> scissors man (push cart w/umbrella, sharpened scissors,knives)
> hurdygurdy man (man w/monkey)
> 
> I guess I'm a little older, LOL.


Oh yeah, he would yell while going down all the alleys, "RAGS- PAPER". As kids we would try to sneak behind &try to hang on the rear of the wagon for a ride. With a flick of his whip he always managed to smack our fingers.

The cart was red, had a stool, & unique sounding jingling bells. As he walked down the sidewalk. Foot powered contraption that ran the belt for the different stones. My mother would get her knives sharpened at least 3x a year.

Horse drawn fruit & vegetable wagon. Watermelons was the biggie, always had samples.

Any larger food store still does the special cuts. I pick out 3/4 sirloin steaks on sale & have them ground up for chopped steak, just did that last week.

Nik,


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

Returnable bottle sorter. My first job was at a small grocery store where one of my jobs was to sort the pop and beer bottles by distributer.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

leeabu said:


> Returnable bottle sorter. My first job was at a small grocery store where one of my jobs was to sort the pop and beer bottles by distributer.


Man, does that bring back memories! I used to do the same when I worked at a grocery store. There simply was no soda in plastic bottles, it was all glass! 8 pack returnables or quart returnables. What really amazed me about this was the sheer amount of "pop" (OK, I'm an Ohioan) that people drank! As a kid growing up, we only had pop in the house when company came over, or, when we were sick and Vernor's Creme Soda was the only thing we could keep on our stomachs. Otherwise, it was water or milk. Case closed! 

And TV repairmen? You only called them as a last resort after you (well, your Dad actually) took the back off the set, pulled all the tubes, and took them to the closest store that had a "Tube Tester"! Anybody remember those? You'd plug the tubes in one by one (there were different, labeled sockets for each kind) and the needle on the gauge would show you their condition. Good, good, good, oops, this one has "gas" better replace it, good, good, OH!, there's the bad one! Why did it always seem like it was one of the small tubes that was bad. What really used to tick my Dad off was when the store that had the tester didn't have the tube that was bad in stock. "Well, what do you have the damn machine for?" my Dad would yell. So, off we'd go to Armie's Electronics in downtown Youngstown. They always had any tube you could imagine, and the absolute best testing machines around! Then, you'd go home, plug all the tubes back into the TV, turn it on and see if it worked. If it didn't work just right a good thump on the side with the edge of your fist would usually bring it around!

Dang those solid state transistors anyhow! They sure have taken some fun out of the world!


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## ErieRider (Mar 23, 2010)

Fotomat Booth! Rememebr those guys in the little hut. Just pull up and drop off your 35mm film for processing. In a few days, come back, drive up and get your photos.


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

Berliner said:


> Music Stores - A place you would buy cassette singles and CDs


You are just a kid! How about 45s and 33 1/3s? Maybe even 78rpms.


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## jmay (Jun 12, 2012)

How about Thomas Jefferson's vision; the yeoman farmer. There are very few small, family, self-sufficient farmers left. Now they are mostly just larger scale agriculture. My grandpa still has the family farm of 100 acres. He uses all the crops he harvests to feed the livestock. He has fruit trees and a large garden as well. There is always a lot of canning to be done in the fall. He has horses, cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, etc. The meat in the freezer comes from his own live stock. Same goes for the eggs. Anymore it&#8217;s one type of livestock or grain production.


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## bhburgess (Jan 10, 2008)

I don't thinks I saw this reply;
Bowling Alley Pinsetter


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## streamstalker (Jul 8, 2005)

leeabu said:


> Returnable bottle sorter. My first job was at a small grocery store where one of my jobs was to sort the pop and beer bottles by distributer.


As a teenager, I used to stand outside Kroger on Saturdays because that was the day people brought them in by the cart load. I think they were 3, 5, and 7 cents depending on the bottle size. That was how I got good at doing math in my head. I'd wave my hand a few times over the cart and tell them, "$1.37." They'd look at me funny and spend the next minute counting themselves and then just take the voucher with disgust, thinking it was way more.

Now I can amaze teenagers by doing miraculous feats like multiplying 7 X 5 and adding 26 *in my head* in under a minute...:doh:


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## PaintItBlue (Oct 21, 2008)

Eastlake, Ohio E317th St and Vine, full service station mandatory for sales.

They still even roll out the cigg, pop, chips, etc carts everyt morning.


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## 7thcorpsFA (Mar 6, 2010)

Omar Bakery in Cincinnati used to deliver fresh donuts and bread to your door early in the morning. About 5am the little truck would go beep beep and Mom and the neighbors would roll out and buy those fantastic baked goods that were still warm from the oven. That was in the late 50's and early 60's.


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

buckeyebowman said:


> Man, does that bring back memories! I used to do the same when I worked at a grocery store. There simply was no soda in plastic bottles, it was all glass! 8 pack returnables or quart returnables. What really amazed me about this was the sheer amount of "pop" (OK, I'm an Ohioan) that people drank! As a kid growing up, we only had pop in the house when company came over, or, when we were sick and Vernor's Creme Soda was the only thing we could keep on our stomachs. Otherwise, it was water or milk. Case closed!
> 
> And TV repairmen? You only called them as a last resort after you (well, your Dad actually) took the back off the set, pulled all the tubes, and took them to the closest store that had a "Tube Tester"! Anybody remember those? You'd plug the tubes in one by one (there were different, labeled sockets for each kind) and the needle on the gauge would show you their condition. Good, good, good, oops, this one has "gas" better replace it, good, good, OH!, there's the bad one! Why did it always seem like it was one of the small tubes that was bad. What really used to tick my Dad off was when the store that had the tester didn't have the tube that was bad in stock. "Well, what do you have the damn machine for?" my Dad would yell. So, off we'd go to Armie's Electronics in downtown Youngstown. They always had any tube you could imagine, and the absolute best testing machines around! Then, you'd go home, plug all the tubes back into the TV, turn it on and see if it worked. If it didn't work just right a good thump on the side with the edge of your fist would usually bring it around!
> 
> Dang those solid state transistors anyhow! They sure have taken some fun out of the world!


I remember the tube testers


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

7thcorpsFA said:


> Omar Bakery in Cincinnati used to deliver fresh donuts and bread to your door early in the morning. About 5am the little truck would go beep beep and Mom and the neighbors would roll out and buy those fantastic baked goods that were still warm from the oven. That was in the late 50's and early 60's.


the omar man delivered to our house too in nelsonville ,my dad was a home delivery milkman for 17 yrs we had all the milk and ice cream we could eat eggs butter all the goodies he worked for Deeds dairy out of Lancaster until 1968


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## FOSR (Apr 16, 2008)

Trash man, at least in Columbus. These days a truck rolls up to the 90-gallon cart, lifts and dumps it, sets it down neatly with varying degrees of success, and rolls on. One worker who doesn't have to get out of the truck.

When I was kid, it was a packer truck with a crew of three; one drove and two loaded WHATEVER people set out in whatever container, including stinky sweaty bags of grass clippings. When they were done loading they'd jump on the truck and whistle, and when the truck reached the next spot they'd yell "HO!"

And, people would let their dogs roam free, so on trash day the same dogs would go up and down the streets tearing open trash bags and scattering food waste. Ah the good old days.


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

FOSR said:


> Trash man, at least in Columbus. These days a truck rolls up to the 90-gallon cart, lifts and dumps it, sets it down neatly with varying degrees of success, and rolls on. One worker who doesn't have to get out of the truck.
> 
> When I was kid, it was a packer truck with a crew of three; one drove and two loaded WHATEVER people set out in whatever container, including stinky sweaty bags of grass clippings. When they were done loading they'd jump on the truck and whistle, and when the truck reached the next spot they'd yell "HO!"
> 
> And, people would let their dogs roam free, so on trash day the same dogs would go up and down the streets tearing open trash bags and scattering food waste. Ah the good old days.


We always called the guys on back the "Mon Backers" ,, you know, mon back mon back


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## bassmastermjb (Apr 8, 2004)

You can add Bait Shops to the list in the very near future.........Mark


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