Archaic Job Titles I

 

Spent a day last week at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a few hours of it looking listing-by-listing at the McElroy City Directory of Philadelphia, 1861. The City Directory was like a White Pages/Yellow Pages but without phone numbers, of course. It gave your name, address and occupation. Barely through the As for my purposes but I started to notice many occupations that no longer exist:

turner
coach trimmer
bonnet presser
bridgetender
trunkmaster
hatter
cordwainer
wheelwright
gentlewoman
lampblack
watchcasemaker
morocco dresser
morocco finisher
morocco manufacturer

This was through two pages. Gentlewoman I believe would have meant "rich lady." Morocco is a type of leather made from goat hide. Apparently in 1861 Philadelphia was the morocco capital of the world, outside of Morocco, I'd imagine. One guy was listed as tailor AND publisher. There was an iron works at Fifth and Tasker. It was owned my Mr. Morris and Mr. Tasker. For those unfamiliar, Morris is the name of a Philadelphia street one block south of Tasker. At Fifth and Arch was an establishment that dealt in dental supplies, and it looks like they also did a big business in porcelain teeth.

 

(The porcelain teeth in the photo are circa 1880 and are available at Collect Medical Antiques.)