Urban division of labor creates hyper-specialized professions like Paris’s paid fourteenth dinner guest
Evidence
Cities are above all the seat of the most advanced economic division of labor. They produce such extreme phenomena as the lucrative vocation of the quatorzieme in Paris. These are persons who may be recognized by shields on their houses and who hold themselves ready at the dinner hour in appropriate costumes so they can be called upon on short notice in case thirteen persons find themselves at the table. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 758
Categorization
- CANDY: The quatorzième—a paid professional who fills a thirteenth seat at a dinner table to avoid the unlucky count—is a perfect light conversation piece and vivid example of extreme niche specialization.
- SHARE: Good match for a friend into trivia or anthropology of urban labor—the quatorzième as the purest example of commodity specialization made flesh.
- XREF: connects to: Labor is means-oriented while aristocratic ethos centers on personal being — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 515
Broader Connections
- Labor is means-oriented while aristocratic ethos centers on personal being
#exemplifies(0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 515