Mga hanap buhay na nag-bye
January 10, 2019 | Throwback
From kalesas to Jeepneys and electric cars, and from harana to just texting and sending memes hoping it would catch her heart (yuck), technology changed us in a lot of ways, and that includes the way we make a living.
It gave us a lot of new stuff to work on while also wiping out a lot of jobs. And with that we wonder, ano-ano kayang mga naging hanap buhay ng mga lolo’t lola ng mga lolo’t lola natin? We dug the internet and here’s what we found.
Lagarista
No, it’s not someone who’s sole task is to cut down wood and be covered with saw dust. Lagaristas are incharge of carrying film reels from film producers to film houses. Siguro, kung mayroon pang mga lagarista ngayon, malamang sa kanila manggagaling ang mga unang spoiler at film review!
Farolero
Long before Meralco’s “Maliwanag ang buhay” tagline (you sang it didn’t you?), faroleros made sure na maliwanag ang bayan. They were in charge of lighting up the lamp posts manually. That, I think is hard work! Why? Because the people courting each other at Luneta probably hated them so much for bringing awkward breaks!
Apuntador ng sarsuela
Sarsuelas were like musicals that were performed live from bayan to bayan and the task of the apuntador is to make sure that everything is executed well. They were prompters who helped actors with their lines and entrance/exit cues. The earliest stage moms and dads.
Tramcar driver
When the whole angkan is running late to Crisanto and Lualhati’s wedding, you don’t call a kalesa, you wait for a tramcar. Tramcars are a mix between a kalesa and today’s LRT; it’s a single train car pulled by one or two horses.
Umalohokan
Before the printing press, people relied on the umalohokan for news. These were people going from barrio to barrio to spread news, new laws and policies by mouth. Literal na shout out.