For a set known mainly for how loud they used to be, they sure went down with a whimper.

In a development that quietly heralded the end of a 140-year-old tradition, traders on Friday marked the final day of the rowdy "open outcry" practices that used to define the New York commodity trading pits, like those of "Trading Places" fame.

The occasion came as the inevitable denouement of a process that began in 2006, when exchange operator IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) first replaced specialists executing orders on the trading floor with computers.

ICE had previously eliminated all nonelectronic trading in its agricultural and petroleum futures exchanges. But the complexity of options trading for goods such as cocoa, coffee, eggs, orange juice and sugar meant there were still places for about 200 flesh-and-blood specialists. With the closing of its agricultural options pit, ICE became the first commodity exchange in the U.S. to fully eliminate the open-outcry system.

Traders who return to work Monday will be there only to help computers process orders, sitting in cubicles at the edges of the gargantuan trading hall, according to the Wall Street Journal. Many will simply hang up their blue-and-yellow trading jackets and move on to other careers, trading from home, or retirement.

"I didn't think I would get sentimental, but looking around it, I am," Jonathan Kleisner, managing director at REX Capital Partners, told the Journal, as he surveyed the desolate trading floor on Thursday.

There is no doubt the end of human-to-human trading on the floor of what used to be the New York Board of Trade represents a milestone. It is the latest chapter in a long history that has seen New York exchanges, once varied, open and plentiful, slowly become more private, consolidated and scarce.

Compared with the mid-19th century -- when all it took to be a "stockjobber" was a loud voice and the ability to stand with a crowd of traders on a corner of Lower Manhattan; when separate cocoa, coffee, corn, cotton and produce exchanges were set up around New York; and when a notorious futures trading pit conducted its after-hours business in the basement of a Midtown hotel -- trading at present is an absolutely antiseptic affair.

To commemorate the long history of commodities trading in New York, the following slideshow features some long-gone exchanges. Click "Start" to view it.

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The Gold Room
The Gold Room - This 1869 photograph shows the gold prices as quoted in the New York Stock Exchange's "Gold Room" during a 19th-century crash. Speculating on the price of gold was highly popular in New York during and after the Civil War period, and several exchanges of varying reputation arose. The most official one, inside the New York Stock Exchange, became a monopoly in the 1870s. Gold is no longer traded in that exchange, although the European LIFFE exchange owned by NYSE Euronext does traffic in gold futures. Library of Congress
Coffee Exchange of the City of New York
The first of New York's coffee exchanges was located at 135 Pearl Street, in the Financial District. The Coffee Exchange later merged with other commodity exchanges -- incorporating cocoa, cotton, egg, milk and potato futures -- to become the New York Board of Trade. The original coffee exchange building was eventually demolished and replaced with a taller brick building, which today houses offices. Library of Congress
The New York Cocoa Exchange
New York's original cocoa exchange was set up at 82 Beaver Street, across from the coffee exchange, in Manhattan's Financial District. The Cocoa Exchange later merged with other commodity exchanges -- incorporating coffee, cotton, egg, milk and potato futures -- to become the New York Board of Trade. The original cocoa exchange building still stands, remodeled as luxury apartments. The first floor is currently occupied by a sushi restaurant. City of New York
The New York Cotton Exchange
The New York Cotton Exchange was set up in a gargantuan building at 81 Pearl, in Manhattan's Financial District. The Exchange later merged with other commodity exchanges -- incorporating coffee, cocoa, egg, milk and potato futures -- to become the New York Board of Trade. Pearl Street, where the exchange stood, looks significantly different today than the way it appeared in the 19th century. Several slips that would have allowed sea access have been filled in, and the street is now a row of low-rise tenements built in the early 20th century. A Mexican restaurant now occupies the space. Library of Congress
Corn Exchange
The New York Cotton Exchange Library of Congress
The Produce Exchange
"Soft" commodities like sugar, lard, eggs and milk were traded at the New York produce exchange, which in its time was an architectural and social landmark. The building where the exchange was located, at 2 Broadway next to historic Bowling Green, was demolished in 1957. A steel-and-glass skyscraper took its place. Today, the building houses municipal offices. The ground floor includes a Chipotle restaurant.
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