Obsolete jobs

17 of them, some with funny names, from "knocker-upper" (not what you think) to "gandy dancer." Plus, 7 other things worth your time.

I’ll be taking off Monday for Labor Day. This year’s holiday comes during a time when work is changing quickly.

With that in mind, I have a list of interesting, obsolete, formerly commonplace jobs that I’ve compiled over the years. The folks at genealogy and DNA-testing company MyHeritage came up with a few of them, so I added to it over time to create what's below.

Here are 17 jobs nobody (or almost nobody) has anymore.

1. Elevator operator

We'll start with this one, because my mom did this job in a department store when she was a teenager in Montreal. Other workers nicknamed the elevator operators “yo-yos.” I think she lasted one day, which sounds familiar. Also, they’re not 100 percent extinct.

2. Knocker-upper

How did people know when to wake up before alarm clocks, but after everyone lived within earshot of a rooster? They paid someone to knock on their door or window in the morning.

3. Video store owner

Not many people still trying to make a living in this field. There is one remaining…