services in 1881

My breakfast reading was a little unusual this morning -  it was a newspaper from 128 years ago: The Times, Saturday the 19th of March 1881.

So what kind of services were on offer 105 years before I was born?

I wonder how different 'the middle class and jobless' would feel if they could sell themselves for work like this gentleman:

So we know the weather from yesterday ... surely you want to  know the weather for the current day?

Sadly, some things never change...

I was fascinated by how people used to sell themselves, their products, services and organizations, particularly the language and tone they used. It seems that back then people offered their own skills and talents as individual services...