list of occupations over the last 50-100 years that aren't around any more.why they're no longer done?

Answer 1

There are indeed still Chimney Sweeps today, although most I know are not children.

However, I have yet to find someone who makes buggy whips as a primary occupation. There are firms that make whips, yes - but not those specialized jobs so commen before automobiles just did away with mass use of buggies. Today there must be someone who does it on special order, or perhaps a company that offers it as a small line (where do the Amish get THEIR buggy whips?), but as a general occupation - yep, it's gone.

You can also work your way through the ranks of several specialists on naval sailing ships and find their specific jobs have vanished. I don't believe the United Kingdom today any longer maintains the list of "post Captains," or ship's captains kept hardly live ashore and unemployed on half-pay.

Going back to buggies, there used to be a pretty decent living for fellows who were carraige footmen - now there are a few called upon for ceremonial occasions in the UK - and, as far as I know, nowhere else in the world.

We don't have professional buffalo hunters or Indian scouts any longer, either - and thank goodness for that.

In some parts of the world, there still are people who earn their livings collecting wood for fires, people making charcoal the old way in earthen pits, and many other forgotten, humble trades. You won't see them in First World - or most Second World - nations unless they work in an historic re-creation setting. I do know there are but a handful of "thatchers," or people who erect or restore thatched roofs in the UK, and almost no "coopers" because barrels today are made by machines. "Fletchers" or fellows who make arrows with feathers on them, are likewise extremely rare.

Good question!

Answer 2

How about whale oil salesman? I believe it is illegal to hunt whales in most of the world, there are no longer whale oil lamps, so therefore .... no more whale oil salesman!
Hmmm..... what else? Orderlies? They have pretty much eliminated that job in hospitals, dumping the responsibility on overworked nurses.
I'm sure that there are hundreds. Cool question!

Answer 3

Ice peddlers. Prior to refrigerators that we use today, there used to be men who would cart around ice, which was cut from frozen lakes in the winter and stored. They would go around in their horse drawn carts and sell ice blocks to homeowners in order to keep their 'ice boxes' cold.

Answer 4

Chimney Sweep-child cruelty in action.

Answer 5

Bloodletter.
Obvious, because of medical advances.