tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19110863.post-1157241573270261952006-09-04T14:01:00.000-07:002006-09-04T14:07:02.713-07:00Looking back at the 1880 census, <a href="http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=552" target="_blank">Family History Circle</a> (via <a href="http://genealogue.blogspot.com/2006/08/odd-jobs.html" target="_blank">Genealogue</a>) lists the most popular jobs of the time, including many quaint occupations -- such as saloon keeper, corset maker, and blacksmith -- that harken back to olden days and remind us how far we've come.<br /><br />But 1880 was a year just brimming with opportunity and invention and the people then were as eager as people are today to adopt the latest technology.<br /><br /><ul><li>The <strong>telephone</strong> had been invented just a couple years earlier but already over 1700 telephone workers were on the job. A good number of them were operators, mostly male, and a dozen telephone repairers had found their calling. </li><li>The <strong>phonograph</strong>, slower to catch on than the phone though invented around the same time, was supported in 1880 by 83 "phonographers." </li><li>Thomas Edison had patented the incandescent light just a few months before the census was taken when there were 49 men working with <strong>electric light</strong>. A thousand electricians were already on the job. </li><li>The development of the dry-plate process in 1878 revolutionized <strong>photography</strong> and opened the doors for over 9000 photographers by 1880. </li><li>The first <strong>typewriter</strong> was introduced commercially in 1873. By 1880 there were over a hundred "typists" or "type writers" using the machines. Many of the 900 stenographers were probably also using the device. </li></ul><p>You can see a glimmer of today's coolest <strong>pastimes</strong> in the 1880 census: There were over 50 baseball players, six genealogists, a handful of balloonists -- including one woman -- and, as a possible forerunner of new-age color therapy, one "pyschromatic healer." </p><p>In a few years, the people of the 1880 census became eager adopters of motion pictures, automobiles, aeroplanes, and pop-up toasters. No wonder: in 1880 there were 782 inventors working in America.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">You can search the 1880 census by occupation at Ancestry</span> </span><a href="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=5647408&siteid=41622679&amp;bfpage=dapbillccensus" target="_top"><span style="font-size:85%;">Ancestry.com</span></a></p>Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05787570959294259533noreply@blogger.com