This interesting article appeared in Popular Science a hundred years ago this month, April 1919.

Due to wartime labor shortages, many women took over the profession of electric meter reading, and the magazine noted that this was one area of employment for women that would probably survive the war.  Utility companies had started schools to train girls for the job, made somewhat challenging due to the fact that each dial ran in the opposite direction of the one next to it.  So in the example shown here, the dial at the left ran counter-clockwise, and the one next to it ran clockwise.

The course instructor discoursed largely upon the hardships of the work, which managed to drive away many of the students.  Then, some of them were unable to pass the examination.  But those who made it through the intensive three-day course “stick to their jobs just as tenaciously as do the men.”

Wikipedia image of electromechanical meter currently in use.

The other striking thing about this century-old article is the fact that the same dials of the electromechanical meter are easily recognizable today.  While many home electric meters have digital components, many of the type shown here remain in service.