Extinct and Endangered Careers

Editor doubts any career / guidance counselors are now suggesting these paths!

EXTINCT = GONE, NEVER TO RETURN

Some careers are no longer needed or bad for public health or for the general environment or have been abandoned in favor of improved technology:

Asbestos insulator; 

Castle Drawbridge operator; 

Cobblestone Street Installer; 

Constantinople Tour Guide; 

DDT Pesticide Applicator; 

Dime Collector from pay phones, 

Dinosaur Trainer, 

Door to Door Sales for Fuller Brush, Colliers and Life Magazine plus Encyclopedia Britannica; 

Egg man Home Delivery; 

Korvettes Store Clerk; 

Guillotine operator; 

Hangman; 

Highway Cash Toll Collector; 

House-Call Medical Doctor; 

Knight of the Round (or any other dimension) Table;

Milk person (formerly Milkman); 

Mimographers; 

Movie Usher; 

New Car Salesperson for Corvair, DeLorean, Dodge, Edsel, Frazer, Kaiser, Nash, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac; 

Night Watchman, 

Phone booth construction, 

Printed Tickets Collector at Sporting Events; 

Rotary Phone Dialing Repairs, 

Telephone Switchboard Operator; 

Shakespeare’s Editor; 

Stage Coach Driver or Robber; 

Street Lamplighter; 

TV Rabbit Ears Antenna Installer; 

Typesetter; 

Typewriter Ribbon Sales; 

Vaudeville Host; 

Witchcraft Instructor; 

Woolworth’s 5 & 10 Cent Store Shelf Stocker; 

Wooly Mammal Groomer; 

Yellow Pages telephone directory delivery

ENDANGERED = FADING TOWARD EXTINCTION

The future is not bright for some careers but as with all careers, there is always room for one more dedicated worker:

Bi-partisan politician; 

Business Suit Manufacturer; 

Fossil Fuel Powered Machinery Salesperson (including automobiles); 

Iceberg Observer; 

Movie Theater Operator; 

Publicity Seeking Crime Mob Bosses; 

TV repairs (because it’s likely cheaper to replace it rather than try to fix it); 

Ventriloquist

LESSON LEARNED

Stay alert for slow or fast changes in the job which is your current career. If the future looks uncertain (for either your specific job or for your employer’s profitability), consider an alternative career and start to prepare for it during your off-duty, personal time (i.e., nights and weekends). Note that many types of post high schools offer evening and weekend classes.