Our grandparents were generally much more skilled than we are at basic survival and living skills.

In fact, stuff they considered “routine” we now consider as almost solely “survival related;” here are just a few!

They ate locally. Most of great grandparents grew their own garden and ate from it.

The rest ate what was grown locally and seasonally because shipping perishables was impossible.

They cooked from scratch. Convenience food simply didn’t exist. Foods were prepared from fresh ingredients and didn’t come from boxes or drive thrus. They also canned, dried and smoked foods to preserve them.

They walked a lot. Even after the early invention of cars people walked. You walked to the store, to see neighbors, to work on your property, to go to work. Life happened closer to home too back then…

They saved and reused. Credit was not popular until the 50s and 60s and even then it was nothing like today. People saved up for big purchases and re-purposed/reused items instead of constantly replacing them.

They bartered and haggled. It was quite common in the early 20th century to barter goods and services. What couldn’t be traded would have been haggled (talked down) in price. Retail price wasn’t a set thing everywhere.

They sewed and mended. Unless your great grandparents were quite wealthy they made their own clothes. Most people only had a handful of outfits and not a walk-in closet full. Clothes were made to last with quality fabrics and craftsmanship. Clothes were mended instead of replaced.

We take for granted many of the aspects of life that our grandparents had to work at and even struggle to accomplish.

Their skills largely have been lost to time and technology, modern convenience, but in a survival situation that was long-term, knowing those skills would be invaluable!

To learn other skills our grandparents knew that we do not any longer, please visit Imperfectly Happy.