1920s job quiz
Image: Novikov Alex/Shutterstock

What job would you have had in the 1920s?

24 Feb 2017

In the era of glittering soirées and jazz musicians, the job options were very different to what they are now. What would have been your career path?

The roaring twenties was a very different era compared to today. Think of over-the-top, Gatsby-style parties, art deco designs and blossoming jazz musicians.

As the culture may tell you, it was a time of economic prosperity and the careers painted an equally rich picture.

Silent movies played a major role in the entertainment industry of the 1920s, so if you were one of the lucky few with some talent who managed to break into the industry, you could have had a very fruitful career.

If you’re an early bird, you might have been a ‘knocker-upper’, whose job it was to knock on other people’s windows to get them up for work. Basically, you would have been the original alarm clock.

If you’re the creative type, perhaps you would have been better suited to making the flapper-style dresses for the It girls of the time for dancing at fancy soirées.

Tech is one of the most lucrative industries to be in these days, and while the technology at the time was much more primitive, it was definitely still a strong field to be in. Telephone operators were paid a decent wage, although not as much as the travelling salesmen.

So, what career path do you think you would have been destined for during the roaring twenties? Check out the job quiz on the infographic below to find out what your day job would have been and how much money you would have made.

For a larger version, click the infographic.

1920s job quiz

Infographic: On Stride Financial

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Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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