Progress must be progress, its getting worse by the minute but let's think about some of the jobs from the past that have just disappeared.
The Post Man
Remember the cheerful fellow on his red bicycle with the red carrier basket on the front, delivering the mail daily with a smile Yes, actual paper letters, bills and magazines! Nowadays the only bill that arrives somehow is the Bulawayo City Council ! Everything else comes over the internet!!
The Milk Man
Pushing his heavy compartmentalised white trolly, laden with glass bottles of fresh milk, silver bottle tops gleaming in the sun. He would collect one's used milk bottles from the end of the garden path, retrieve his one shilling and thruppence cunningly hidden under one of the bottles, and leave the new days milk requirement, all before the sun rose too high in the sky!!
The Human Alarm Clock
Before digital assistants and smartphone alarms, how did you make sure you got to the factory on time You hired a 'Knocker-Upper.' This was a real job, primarily in industrial towns, where a person was paid to walk the streets in the early morning and tap on clients' windows with a long stick.
The Bowling Alley Pinsetter
In the 1950s, bowling was a massively popular social activity. But behind the scenes, it was a physically demanding job. At the end of every lane stood a 'pinsetter,' often a young man or teenager, who would manually clear the fallen pins, reset them in their proper formation, and roll the ball back to the bowler.
The Office Typing Pool
Walk into a large 1950s corporation, and you would have seen a vast room filled with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of 'typists' or 'stenographers.' These skilled professionals, almost exclusively women, were the engines of corporate communication. They took shorthand dictation from executives and spent their days flawlessly typing letters, memos, and reports on manual typewriters.
The Motion Picture Projectionist
Going to the movies in the 1950s felt like magic, and the wizard responsible was the projectionist. Tucked away in a small booth above the audience, this was a highly skilled job. The projectionist had to manage multiple large, heavy film reels, performing precise 'changeovers' between projectors to create a seamless, uninterrupted movie! Memories of Jean Garrett and Sheena Meikle at Bulawayo Theatre Club!!
The Textile Mill Worker
Textile mills were once the backbone of many industrial towns, employing thousands in massive factories. These factories were filled with highly specialised, labor-intensive roles, like the 'Slubber Doffer.' This worker's entire job was to walk the factory floor and quickly remove the full bobbins of spun fibre from the spinning frames.
Looking back at these vanished careers isn't just about nostalgia. It's a powerful lesson in how fast our world can change. These jobs, which once seemed like permanent fixtures of the economy, were made obsolete by new ideas and new tools.
It leaves us with a compelling, and perhaps slightly unsettling, question. As we look at our own careers today, which of our 'permanent' jobs are just one invention away from joining the Knocker-Upper, The Milkman, and the Pinsetter!!
Garden Park Trust
The 55th Annual General Meeting of the Garden Park Trust will be held
on Thursday 19th March 2026
in the Garden Park Community Centre, 3 St. Luke's Avenue, Ascot, Bulawayo
at 14:30pm.