Forgotten Jobs

Before safety matches, an entire industry of forgotten workers risked their lives to bring light to the world—and many paid with their jaws, lungs, and sanity. From the 'phossy jaw' victims of match-dipping rooms to the child frame-fillers who worked in toxic fumes, we count down six vanished occupations that made the simple matchstick a product soaked in human suffering.

Before machines straightened America's railroad tracks, gandy dancers performed a dangerous ballet of muscle and timing, swinging their tools to work songs that kept entire crews moving as one. We uncover the life of these forgotten laborers whose rhythmic chants became the blues, and follow the story of one of the last gandy dancers to work the Southern Pacific line in 1965.

Before your fridge had a freezer, two competing armies battled to keep your food fresh: the rugged ice harvesters who sawed massive blocks from frozen lakes each winter, and the mechanical refrigerator men who hawked electric cooling as the future. This is the story of how a centuries-old seasonal trade vanished almost overnight, taking with it ice houses, sawdust insulation techniques, and an entire winter economy.

Before modern trains, entire crews of specialized workers kept the rails running—from ice cutters who stocked dining cars to brake runners who leaped between moving freight cars. We're counting down seven death-defying, bizarre, and utterly essential railroad jobs that vanished when steam power died, taking with it a whole world of forgotten labor.

In Victorian London, one man held the strangest royal warrant ever issued: Official Rat and Mole Destroyer to Her Majesty. Jack Black didn't just kill rats—he caught them alive, bred exotic colors, and sold them as pets to the aristocracy. This is the story of how rat catching evolved from essential pest control into a bizarre blend of showmanship, science, and high society scandal.

Before alarm clocks, two professions battled for the ears of British townspeople: knocker-uppers who tapped on windows at dawn, and town criers who bellowed news through the streets. Discover how these human alarm systems competed, overlapped, and ultimately faced extinction as technology rendered their voices obsolete.

Before refrigerators and food safety laws, America's dinner tables depended on jobs that sound almost unbelievable today. We're counting down five forgotten food-related professions that kept the nation fed, from the ice cutters who braved frozen lakes to the human alarm clocks who woke up bakery workers. These jobs disappeared with technology, but their stories reveal how dramatically our relationship with food has changed.

Before automatic switches and electric bulbs, thousands of men climbed ladders through London's fog-choked streets each evening, carrying long poles to ignite gas lamps one by one. We explore the rigorous routines, hidden dangers, and surprising social role of lamplighters—the timekeepers of the Victorian city who vanished almost overnight when technology caught up.

Glad we don't have to these anymore!

Glad we don't have to these anymore!

Forgotten Jobs best of episode!

Forgotten Jobs best of episode!

We actually had to do this!?

We actually had to do this!?

It's a wonder more trains didn't collide!

Say cheese!

Say cheese!

Odd and Dangerous pt2

You can still do it if you want con't

You can still do it if you want con't

You can still do it if you want