But these old photographs, selected from the Evening News archive, give a flavour of the many different types of work people were doing five decades ago.
From herbalist to taxidermist and from saddler to steeplejack, the pictures highlight occupations which were keeping people busy in the Capital 50 years ago.
Scroll through the pictures and turn back the clock to get a taste of life in Edinburgh in the 1970s.
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17. A taste for tea
Bill Ross, the tea-taster at Melrose Ltd, tea blenders and exporters in Leith, July 1975. | TSPL Photo: Albert Jordan
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18. Striking the right note
Piano tuner Thomas Scott busy on an upright piano in October 1975 | TSPL Photo: Jack Crombie
19. Building the St James Centre
Workers constructing the now-demolished St James Centre in Edinburgh in June 1975. | TSPL Photo: Hamish Campbell
20. St Cuthbert's saddler
John Marshall in the saddlery room of the St Cuthbert's Co-operative horses' stables in Grove Street, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh in November 1975. | TSPL Photo: Bill Stout