I wonder what the most common jobs are in a modern city. Probably all bullshit.
I grabbed some public data and took a quick look in comparison: https://app.hex.tech/hex-public/app/fffe29ce-a5b2-42b7-92d5-...
Common Jobs in a Medieval City
161–170 of 193 posts
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#162Striking that there were more shoemakers than tailors.
As the article mentions, a lot of the "most popular jobs" is determined not by the popularity of the industries but by the fragmentation of jobs. If you have 20 people working on shoes and 40 people working on clothing, then if shoemakers are a single profession/guild but clothing has 10 people each working on a different stage of the product (which actually is the case, with the most labor-intensive tasks of medieval clothing production being in the multiple stages of making the actual cloth, not tailoring it) then shoemakers become a more common job.
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#163It surprises me that all 10 jobs still exist, while there are several more recent occupations that no longer exist (albeit they were not that common): Milkmen, Elevator operator, Switchboard Operator, Ice Cutter, Bowling Pin Setter, Film projectionist, Lamplighter, Leech collector, Alchemist, Bematist, Redsmith, Daguerreotypist, Town crier
[deleted]
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#164I'm surprised blacksmiths didn't cut to the top 10. Almost everyone would need some kind of metal tool(s) to do their job in medieval time.
Definitely a blacksmith in almost every city, but probably fewer blacksmiths per city than the other jobs. Metal tools are built to last, and are expensive, so it was probably often a low volume high cost kind of business where production could be covered by a minimal number of smiths.
I bet most of a blacksmith's business was shoeing horses and making nails, not making tools.
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#165I'm surprised blacksmiths didn't cut to the top 10. Almost everyone would need some kind of metal tool(s) to do their job in medieval time.
Same, also surprised there how highly butcher ranks with baker not even in the to 10. I had the impression that meat was a luxury in Medieval times
Maybe paying someone else to make your bread is even more luxurious. I wonder if people who ran communal ovens, where you bring your own dough ready-to-bake and then take it out after it cooks, were counted as "bakers".
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Alchemist became Chemist. Dageuerreotypist became photographer, which has only recently gone away. Town crier is now the guy flipping a sign for the new burger joint.
Town crier [1] is now news anchor. [1]: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/79/2b/89/792b8997970b433b06b10721b...
Been a while. Is that from Rome or Spartacus?
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
And where generally closer to our modern day MDs then real mediaval MDs. As those where theologists coming from christian universities where they received basically zero true medical training.
Secular doctors were also terrible: before the late-19th century, seeing a doctor was more likely to shorten your lifespan than lengthen it. Unless you needed surgery, which meant that you were in serious trouble anyway, so even with the extreme likelihood of infection your odds were a bit better than just leaving it alone. As far as I can tell, before like 1880 they prescribed mercury for everything. Even though the…
Yep. Apothecaries were the main source of routine medical care for the masses. To the extent that "an apothecaries wages" was an idiom to refer to their high incomes, somewhat pejoratively.
This is still the case in many communities worldwide, a good pharmacist is a real anchor for providing care for day-to-day health care. It's a great filtering mechanism too, the pharmacist as a buffer for frivolous doctor's visits.
Contrast that to here in the US. When's the last time somebody sought out direct medical care from a pharmacist? Pretty much the kneejerk always is go straight to a doctor, no matter how small the discomfort.
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#168It surprises me that all 10 jobs still exist, while there are several more recent occupations that no longer exist (albeit they were not that common): Milkmen, Elevator operator, Switchboard Operator, Ice Cutter, Bowling Pin Setter, Film projectionist, Lamplighter, Leech collector, Alchemist, Bematist, Redsmith, Daguerreotypist, Town crier
Town crier job advert in the U.K. from 6 years ago
https://www.crediton.gov.uk/Portals/0/Downloads/job-vacancie...
Projectionist
https://careers.atg.co.uk/opportunities/job-search/job-detai...
Milkman quite common round here https://shonesmilkandnews.co.uk
Switchboard operator https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/direct_apply/?vac_ref=916883814
Fairly sure elevator operators in Blackpool tower exist and ride in the car with you. Less sure about Eiffel Tower, I do remember one in the car on the Empire State Building. In india of course you can barely get in the elevator because of the operator and his stool.
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#169It surprises me that all 10 jobs still exist, while there are several more recent occupations that no longer exist (albeit they were not that common): Milkmen, Elevator operator, Switchboard Operator, Ice Cutter, Bowling Pin Setter, Film projectionist, Lamplighter, Leech collector, Alchemist, Bematist, Redsmith, Daguerreotypist, Town crier
The milkman is alive and well here in Rhode Island. Every other house has one of these on their front porch: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-55YYt59jQqk/TxnrEKJT4BI/AAAAAAAAA...
+1000 for Monroe Dairy.
Nostalgia alone would almost make me a customer. But now I'm so used to milk from their glass bottles that I really notice (and dislike) the taste of milk from plastic.
Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City
#170A fun one that I'm personally familiar with is the Upholder, predecessor to the modern Upholsterer. Back in medieval times, the upholder was a combination furniture and textile producer as well as interior designer and the person who did the banners in castles, bedsheets, etc. Basically anything involving textiles. Over time, padded furniture became the main focus of the trade, leading to what we think of as upholste…
How about the knocker upper knocker upper? Although srather later in history.
The knocker-upper would rap on window panes with a long stick to wake factory workers before dawn. They were careful not to rap too hard, so as not to wake people who might want to use their service without paying.
The knocker upper knocker upper wakes a knocker upper.