hmm. In Broome the Red Light area of Sheba lane was full of Japanese 
'tailoresses'.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ryan Gray" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 4:19 AM
Subject: Re: Historic Occupations


> Kent and company,
>
> Another ranking system for occupations occurs in:
>
> Hershberg, Theodore
> 1973 Free Blacks in Antebellum Philadephia.  In The
> Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups
> and Lower-Class Life, 1700-1940, edited by Allen Davis
> and Mark Haller, pp.111-133.  Temple University Press,
> Philadelphia.
>
> However, I would also reiterate Bill Lockhart's
> warning about taking census occupations at face value.
> I have been working on a study of the 1850 New Orleans
> census, cross-referenced with the City Directory,
> newspapers, etc. While the "Merchant" category is
> often regarded as a high-status occupation, I have
> been finding whole flophouse boarding houses full of
> 23-year-olds from Kentucky or Ireland (and who also
> show up in the papers as 'notorious characters' or
> 'incorrigible vagrants'), who are identified as being
> "merchants", just to name one example. Of course, some
> interesting discussions of identity that come out of
> this...
>
> Ryan Gray
> Earth Search, Inc.
> New Orleans, Louisiana
>
>
> --- Kent Taylor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Melissa.  Yes, I need to be able to place
>> them into larger economic categories and determine
>> low and high-status occupations as you suggest.
>> I'll track down the Thernstrom reference which
>> sounds like it might be very helpful.
>>
>>
>> Kent
>>
>> Meli Diamanti <[log in to unmask]> wrote: If you
>> are looking at the occupations listed in census
>> records, you
>> might be interested in a study that sorted them into
>> larger economic
>> categories, such as skilled or unskilled blue collar
>> workers, or low or
>> high-status white collar workers.  See Thernstrom,
>> referenced below.
>> The classification of occupations into
>> socio-economic ranks that
>> Thernstrom developed was also used by V. Cowin in
>> her study of
>> Pittsburgh and to by M. Weber is his study of
>> Parren, Pennsylvania.  I
>> have found it useful in my on-going study of
>> historic communities around
>> Pittsburgh.  but I found that not all the
>> occupations I find were
>> included in Thernstrom's original classification, so
>> I have had to make
>> some guesses of my own about where additional
>> occupations would fit into
>> his ranking system.
>> In my case, I included "gentleman" with "none,"
>> "retired," and blank
>> entires for occupation, in an "Other" category and
>> did not try to rank it.
>> References:
>> Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostonians: Poverty
>> and Progress in the
>> Maerican Metropolis 1880-1970.  Harvard University
>> Press, 1973.
>> Verna L. Cowin, Pittsburgh Archaeological Resources
>> & National Register
>> Survey.  Carnegie Museum of Natural History,
>> Pennsylvania Historical and
>> Museum Commission, and Pittsburgh Department of City
>> Planning.  Report
>> on file at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
>> Commission,
>> Harrisburg, PA.
>> Michael P. Wber, Social Change in an Industrial
>> Town: Patterns of
>> Progress in Warren, Pennsylvania, from Civil War to
>> World War I.
>> Pennsylvania State University Press, Univeristy
>> Park, PA.
>>
>> Melissa Diamanti
>> Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.
>>
>> Kent Taylor wrote:
>>
>> >In looking through censuses, directories, and other
>> historic documents, I
>> >sometimes come across types of occupations that are
>> not easily defined by
>> >our modern standards.  Does anyone have a list of
>> occupations for the entire
>> >historic period and exactly how they were defined
>> during their period of
>> >use?  For example, the occupation of "gentleman."
>> How was that defined?
>> >Was he a retired person?
>> >Thanks in advance,
>> >Kent Taylor
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> Kent C. Taylor, M.A., RPA
>> Project Archaeologist
>> Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc.
>> Phone (248) 362-3038
>> Fax (248) 362-3038
>> E-Mail [log in to unmask]
>>
>> ---------------------------------
>> Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com.  Check
>> it out.
>>
>
>
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