11 Skills Your Great-Grandparents Had That You Don’t

[Hotdoger]

11 Skills Your Great-Grandparents Had That You Don?t

 

[Expat]

Interesting list. Things have changed quite a bit in some areas. I guess I would challenge about half of the list, but I am a bit older than some of you.
1. is certainly done differently now.
2. have done regularly
3. have done many times
4. have done, but not commonly
5. have done, but the article is right, not appropriate in many circumstances these days.
6. the wife used to mend clothes for the kids occasionally. we never tried darning.
7. no doubt letters and more importantly, coherent letter writing, is a dying ability.
8. never did that
9. have done it
10. we did it with our first kid for awhile. thought it would be cheaper.
11. used to have a couple years ago. some people still do use them.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

I'm only 51, but this list seems a bit premature:

1. Courting. Kind of. Not nearly as formal, but I did visit the family and did ask permission.
2. Hunting, Fishing, Foraging. Are you kidding? That's my life! Big yes here.
3. Butchering. Big yes here too - we butcher all our wild meat and have for years.
4. Bartering. Of course! Still do.
5. Haggling. Of course I haggle. They make a point in you don't haggle at walmart, but individuals of course we haggle.
6. Mending. I mend all my hunting clothes. Socks - nope, a sock with a hole is called a polishing rag.
7. Letters. Not as much as I used to, but yes I do still send the occassional letter through snail mail.
8. Making Lace. Got me there. Never done it, but I remember watching my grandmother and great grandmother do it.
9. Lighting a Fire Without Matches. Do it often. Striker and a mag strip work great.
10. Diapering With Cloth. Diapered my sister with cloth, but my son went the disposable diaper way.
11. Writing with a Fountain Pen. Haven't done it in years, but yes I know how.

 

[possum_128]

Number 8 is the only skill I do not have or have not done, the rest are quite common things I have done and most I still do.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Number 8 is the only skill I do not have or have not done, the rest are quite common things I have done and most I still do.

With ya possum. I think the author of this article believes everyone is a city dweller.

 

[T.Lex]

With ya possum. I think the author of this article believes everyone is a city dweller.

According to the 2010 census, more than 80% of USians live in urban areas, so that is a safe bet.

More Americans move to cities in past decade-Census | Reuters

It does illustrate the significance and disparity of disaster preparedness, though. The OP article is probably accurate for at least 80% of the population.

 

[ViperJock]

Interesting. I'd say several of those things are not really "skills" (cloth diapering? Seriously) and I agree with the above posters that the author ignores a significant portion of society when he makes those assumptions (my kids learned to barter and haggle at a very early age). Also ignored are the city dwellers and aristocrats of days gone by who likely did not posses those skills either.

IMO this was written by someone who buys into the "greatest generation" vs the young whipper snapper arguments. Their life was different, not harder, not easier, different.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Those are what they went with? That article *has* to be designed so people can say "nuh-uh, I can do that." I'd say there are multiple skills that are truly extinct, or nearly so, that could have been much easier to defend. Plowing with a mule team, making one's own cheeses, building a house without nails or screws, those sorts of things are dead outside a hand full of craftsmen or historical preservationists.

 

[buckstopshere]

FAIL

ok, some of the items on that list are legit for me.

1) I've never asked permission from a girls parents to date her
2) I live for this!
3) you can't live for #2 without being able to do this
4) yesterday
5) this past weekend
6) yeah, I'm bad about this
7) I'm in sales. A personal hand written letter sent via the mail is a nice touch for the right customers and gets appreciated.
8) uh, yeah, never made lace
9) I can make fire many different ways
10) done it when babysitting my wife's cousins baby. Not hard but not fun.
11) I have two fountain pens on my desk and use them for #7

I'm 36 and live in the suburbs

 

[eldirector]

Other than 1, 8, and 11, that reads like a rural vs. urban MODERN list. Add in 8 and 11, and it is a hippy vs. uh... non-hippy list.

 

[1775usmarine]

I'm 27 and have done 2-7, 11.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Well, I did MAKE lace with Grandma, but I'll give you that one.

 

[st33da]

Cool list but clearly not accurate. 1, 8, and 11 are the only ones I don't have experience with.

 

[Leadeye]

Being from the stone ages I cover all those skills with the exception of lace making. I've never seen that done.

 

[88GT]

those sorts of things are dead outside a hand full of craftsmen or historical preservationists.

Not as dead as you would think. It's just the circles of people who have that knowledge are generally very small and very local.

The list is better described as how our life is different from our great-grandparents.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

My paternal grandfather was born/raised in Titusville, Florida, while his wife was born/raised in Chicago. Likely HIS parents did all of these. Since my dad was raised in Chicago, it's unlikely that he ever did most of these items, but when I was a young boy (in the 50s) we visited friends of his in the vicinity of Champaign, IL, and I watched one of our friends' daughter wring the neck and bleed the carcasses of the chickens we were going to have for dinner. Unless we were traveling, our son (born in '73) was mainly a cloth-diaper baby (disposable diapers were too expensive for a no-time-in-grade WO's family). I have to say this seems much like an urban-vs-rural environment list.

 

[pearlman1966]

If anyone is interested there is a class on making lace at Spring Mill state park in on Fathers day weekend.
Some of the women in my civil war reenactment group will be there learning. The men will be doing a living history.

 

[Force10]

Interesting. I'd say several of those things are not really "skills" (cloth diapering? Seriously) ...

I have to say that cloth diapering can be defined as a "skill." We use cloth diapers for our 14 mo old son, and have almost entirely from birth. Granted, my wife does most of the diapering and we use a lot of newer cloth diaper designs, but stomaching scraping poo off of a diaper before washing it can't really be construed as easy. Interestingly, my wife recently did a "hand-washing challenge" and used only the old flat type diapers and strictly hand-washed and line dried the diaper for one week. Surely that could be called a skill...

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Those are what they went with? That article *has* to be designed so people can say "nuh-uh, I can do that." I'd say there are multiple skills that are truly extinct, or nearly so, that could have been much easier to defend. Plowing with a mule team, making one's own cheeses, building a house without nails or screws, those sorts of things are dead outside a hand full of craftsmen or historical preservationists.

Agreed.

 

[TacticAll]

What do you say if you get a hole in your sock???

Darn it!! (#6)

Thank you very much! Try the Veal (#2 and #3) I'm here all week.