Glimpse of the past: at work 181 years ago

The seven commonest reported occupations in a New York City directory of July 1833:

No Business Named . . . 3326
Widow . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2963
Merchant . . . . . . . . . . .  2255
Grocer . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2106
Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1581
Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . . 1392
Shoemaker . . . . . . . . . .   999

At the other end, I spotted a total of only 350 clerks/accountants/bookkeepers/secretaries, nine "comedians," one "bone turner," and one "philosophical instru. maker."

Most of these people did not have "jobs" as we think of them today. They were in business for themselves.




Edwin Williams, "Classification of Citizens," in The New-York Annual Register for . . . 1834 (New York: author, 1834), 267-74, citing Longworth's July 1833 City Directory; digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=IxcXAAAAYAAJ : viewed 1 April 2014).



Harold Henderson, "Glimpse of the past: at work 181 years ago," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 17 April 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]