I think most people have no idea of what it was like living back in those time periods.
Yes, you could get a job back then without a diploma. You might be digging ditches or loading hay in 100-degree weather. I really haven't run across someone willing to work hard like that today who can't get a job somewhere.
I had relatives that worked at a grocery store, but they did stuff like deliver 50-pound blocks of ice all around town.
I'm pretty confident that agriculture, mining, and other work similar to what I described represented a much larger portion of the workforce than shoe salesmen did.
