Some of us hold onto the proud traditions modeled for us by our parents and grandparents. However, it’s so easy to forget about a generation’s habits and values when the years have passed. Here are 19 largely forgotten things that were common parts of our grandparents’ way of life.
Handwritten Letters
Is there anything more romantic than a hand-written, heartfelt love letter? We may have replaced pen and ink with phones and touchscreen keyboards, but our grandparents kept up on their cursive, maintained long-distance relationships through letters, and saved their correspondences as cherished keepsakes.
Home Canning And Preserving
Memories of making berry jams and canning home-grown food may be family history to you. However, The Spruce Eats suggests it’s “a relatively recent development in the long history of food preservation” and “didn’t come along until the late 18th century.” Despite a slight resurgence lately, home canning is mostly left in the past.
Growing Food In The Garden
It might not be uncommon to have a few tomato plants in your backyard nowadays, but a thriving vegetable garden was crucial for many of our grandparents. Everything that was grown would be put on the table, and community gardening, like allotments, was much more normal.
Darning And Mending Clothes
The ease of fast fashion means that many have left behind the days of sewing and repairing clothes. But most of our grandparents would mend, mend, and mend again rather than buy new clothes. It was a less expensive alternative—and coincidentally, much better for the environment.
Baking From Scratch
Lots of people have fond memories of their grandparents baking, but many people have never made a cake or a pie themselves from scratch. This is despite family recipes being passed down through generations – it’s simply easier for us to buy pre-made baked treats from supermarkets. But they don’t taste as good as Grandma’s baking!
DIY Home Repairs
Many of us took the pandemic as an opportunity for DIY projects, just like our grandparents. They weren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and work hard. But CNN reports that now, “prices are (much) higher, consumers are growing fearful of a recession, and people are spending less at Lowe’s and Home Depot.”
Regularly Ironing Clothes
You probably iron your clothes before a job interview or a fancy night out. You may even iron your work outfits regularly. But our grandparents would rarely be seen without a well-pressed shirt and pair of trousers, or skirt and blouse, even when they were only going to the store.
Family Dinners
How long has it been since your family all sat at the dining table and ate together? Some households keep up this tradition, but so many forgo the kitchen table for the couch and TV. For our grandparents, dinner time was crucial for family discussions, catch-ups, and bonding.
Knitting and Crocheting
You’ll still find some hobbyists who love knitting, crochet, and other textile crafts. But on the whole, many people are forgetting or not bothering to learn how to knit or crochet. More often than not, when someone loves knitting today, you can link it back to being taught by a grandparent.
Hand-Washing Laundry
Parents today are likely thankful that hand-washing laundry has been replaced by the time and effort-saving washing machine. Martha Stewart states that actually, “taking the time to hand wash certain items can help us keep clothing in tip-top shape for longer.” But our grandparents would hand-wash every item laboriously, whether delicate or not.
Courting
There were no dating apps when our grandparents were exploring their romantic lives. Instead, they followed formal dating etiquette, often going on dates with chaperones (usually a parent) and writing each other love letters. There were also more traditional dances and social gatherings.
Making Their Own Clothes
As well as mending clothes, our grandparents were often highly skilled at making them too. You had to learn these skills to save money, so our grandparents would follow patterns to create dresses and suits, reusing fabric scraps for quilts and blankets.
Woodworking and Craftsmanship’
If Grandma was an expert at sewing, it was a solid bet that Grandpa knew his way around the woodworking bench. Hand-crafted furniture was much more commonplace in our grandparents’ homes, and they crafted high-quality items that could last for generations.
Community Volunteering
You might volunteer some of your time to a charity every now and then, but volunteering in your local community used to be so much more normal. Bake sales, fundraisers, and local fairs and events might still be found here and there, but our grandparents had a much stronger sense of community spirit.
Saving And Budgeting – In Cash
Without online banking, our grandparents had to keep to strict budgets that they managed themselves. Cash envelopes were a common sight for working out household expenses, and the old adage of storing your money under (or inside of) your mattress has a lot of truth to it.
Keeping Physical Photo Albums
There’s nearly no doubt that somewhere, you’ll have family photo albums lying around. But since smartphones have become so popular, have you kept up with printing your photos and keeping them in a physical album? We’re lucky that our grandparents did since we have physical reminders of beloved family members and memories.
Walking Everywhere
According to the NHS, “Walking is simple, free, and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.” Our grandparents would walk everywhere, from their workplaces to local stores, and often went on evening strolls to relax. We could learn a thing or two from this old habit.
Hosting Social Gatherings
House parties aren’t a thing of the past, but our grandparents went so much further than the occasional alcohol-fuelled get-together. They hosted game nights, dances, and potlucks and would usually be on friendly terms with most of their neighbors. Not many people today can say the same.
Journaling
Finally, it’s time to think about journaling. Today, a lot of people turn to journaling to improve their mental health and become more mindful. However, for our grandparents, it was second nature to keep a journal and record their daily events and thoughts, and many of these have been passed down to us.