Someone asked what people with office jobs did before computers and mobile phones – 21 nostalgic replies
Over on Twitter, user StripMallGuy has asked his followers what people actually did in offices before computers and mobile phones, apparently imagining an entire workforce staring silently at a beige desk until it was time to go home.
Luckily there were enough people still around from The Olden Days who were on hand to explain the workings of offices of yore. It’s as entertaining as any discussion about office work can possibly be.
Here’s the question that sparked a tidal wave of pre-internet nostalgia.
1.
What did an office job look like before computers or cell phones?
People got to the office at 9am. There was just a desk there, and a telephone.
What did they even do?
I know there’s an answer to this.
I don’t know what it is.— StripMallGuy (@realEstateTrent) April 16, 2024
Cue the replies, detailing such ancient technologies as fax machines and typewriters.
2.
All the emails you send now? Used to be inter office memos that would walked around by people who work in the mail room.
— Brian Sparks (@the_briansparks) April 17, 2024
3.
There was paper, pens and pencils, erasers, ledgers, graphs, typewriters, files, file cabinets, memos, envelopes, mail, etc.
— El Coyote (@kbo_coyote) April 17, 2024
4.
I imagine it would have been the glory days. When you left work at work.
— Spirituality (@addictcoaching) April 17, 2024
5.
It was much nicer 🙂
We had a normal phone on our desks. I had a dictaphone to dictate letters, documents etc into.
We had secretaries who would then type up our letters etc.
We drafted most of our work by pen and paper.
We used libraries instead of google.
Much happier
— Anna de Buisseret (@AnnadeBuisseret) April 17, 2024
6.
There were pencils, pens and paper. There were reports. The same stuff as today, but a different format. Oh, and coffee, cigarettes and ashtrays. Only coffee remains.
— hhardcast (@Heath_H1) April 17, 2024
7.
I can’t tell if you’re actually asking or if this was written to make a swath of us feel old.
If it’s the former, the desk was not empty. There was a typewriter and a telephone.
If it was the latter, mission accomplished.
— MarketswithMay (@marketswithmay) April 17, 2024
8.
ah memories! pic.twitter.com/EFhDQExZo0
— Joe Killinger (@JoeKillinger) April 17, 2024
9.
Well in those days, the internet was in black and white and only on for three hours a day. We used to get dressed up in our Sunday best to log onto Yahoo, which cost half a penny per hour.
— Will Harley 🇧🇪🇬🇧 (@Hardley76) April 17, 2024
10.
Back in the long long ago there was this thing called… paper. There were also these stick like devices with pointy ends called pens and pencils. You used those devices to "write" on the "paper". Your work involved filling out forms… on the paper.
It was called… Paperwork.
— Tom Etzel (@Spetz83) April 17, 2024
11.
You forgot the most important part, the inbox, kinda like your email folder, but not.
— Earl of the South (@Corgi_actual) April 17, 2024