Old Occupations Trivia Quiz

Answer: Innkeeper

Great-great Uncle Norbert was an innkeeper. A rather prestigious position, being an innkeeper usually meant that you always had food and a roof over your head. It often also meant you were a property owner.

Answer: Wrought iron worker

Cousin Uriah was a wrought iron worker. He was probably strong. He was probably poor but was still not at the bottom of the social scale because he was a tradesman.

Answer: Doctor

"Sawbones" is an old term for a doctor or physician. It is a term that can sometimes still be heard by older members of society.

Answer: Wig maker

He would have been a wig maker. This was an important job for many years as the upper class were prone to shave their heads because of lice and wore wigs all the time. Also there were long periods in American and British history where men wore powdered wigs whenever in public. A good wig maker had steady work and his creations were highly sought after and well paid for.

Answer: Fish

A piscator was a fisherman. Notice the similarity to the word Pisces? They both came from the Latin word "piscis", which means fish. This was hard, dangerous work. Fishermen and their families often formed tight-knit communities that were self-reliant and helped take care of the widows and orphans that were all too common in their society.

Answer: She found water

A dowser is someone who finds underground water through the act of dousing or divination. This is an, as yet, unproven skill practiced for hundreds of years. The dowser uses a forked limb or two rods which she/he holds in front of her/himself. The gravitational pull of the water is supposed to cause movement by the limb/rod.

A dowser was used to tell a farmer, rancher, or other party, where to drill for water. Their services were considered vital and it was/is an occupation that was performed by both men and women.

Answer: Bailiff

A tipstaff was an officer of the court whose duties varied depending on which country he worked in, and the term was just one of many for law enforcement officers. The term could cover police, bailiffs, sheriffs, and constables. This term referred to the staff often carried as a sign of office.

Answer: Wagon

A wagon maker was also called a wainwright. The term is a combination of two words, "wain" which meant a farm wagon, and "wright" which meant "maker of". An associated name and/or word is "cartwright", which meant a maker of carts.

Answer: Gold

An aurifaber was a goldsmith. The word, like many of the previous answers in this quiz became the surname to the practitioners of this given trade. The word comes from Latin translations of "auri" meaning gold and "faber" meaning smith or worker.

Answer: Fruits and Vegetables

A greengrocer sold fruits and vegetables. The term is still used colloquially in the modern world. Before the world of supermarkets, most food was bought at shops that specialized in certain types of food. There were fishmongers who sold fish and bakers who sold bread and butchers who sold meat. Many of these occupations disappeared with modernization.