How did they do all the home projects?
Posted by Couldbeaccurate@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 238 comments
I was working in my yard today weeding between pavers and then putting sand down. Back in the 80s, I would do all kinds of projects with my dad. I really enjoyed doing it and I still like doing projects in my 50s.
The difference between then and now is I have the advantage of the Internet and YouTube to figure out how to do stuff. How did people before the Internet do stuff? How did my dad no how to do all that he did? I never thought to ask him growing up and he passed a while ago.
Does any GenX remember how projects were researched when they were young?
EarlyInside45@reddit
My dad grew up without a male figure in the house, and my grandmother was not handy, yet he knew how to rewire our house, etc. No idea how he learned, but it was probably one of his many crap jobs he had in his youth. Or, he bought a book.
hovercraftracer@reddit
I think there's a few things to consider:
Things were made to be fixable in our early life and before. Now things are made to be thrown away.
Our parents were raised by parents that lived through the depression. They had to fix things because it was the only way back then. They had to be creative and just figure it out for themselves. In some cases it may have been the difference between life and death. I just worked with kids last week in a camp making rockets. They just quit when they didn't know what to do. The idea of just being able to be creative and figuring it out on their own is something they've had conditioned out of them. They just want you to tell them the answer so they can move on to the next thing.
Electronics exploded in our childhood but many things still were mechanical and able to be fixed.
Our parents took shop classes in school where they learned how to use tools and make/fix things. Shop classes were being cut while we were going through school.
When I was a kid I loved watching This Old House, the New Yankee Workshop, and other TV shows on PBS. Many of our parents generation likely did as well. I miss watching Norm Abram do woodworking. He was the best. I still watch This Old House and others.
That's my thoughts. Our parents figured it out. Many of them didn't have extra money to buy new or even hire someone to fix things. Credit wasn't as accessible back then. If you didn't have the money, you had to save until you did or you went without.
K_Linkmaster@reddit
Pic up a set of these? https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/practical-handymans-encyclopedia-set-4601105681
Particular_Tie7430@reddit
My dad did not know how to fix anything. I was not going to be "that guy" The Home Depot 123 book was my bible. I was 25 when it came out in 1995 and it has "how to" EVERYTHING. I still have it to this day.
Activist_Mom06@reddit
Their minds weren’t bogged down with nonsense and ads coming at you all damn day. You had the mind space to figure things out. And learning from others was so necessary during WWII and The Great Depression. We were not addicted to convenience.
I have my ‘people’ in my head. I hear their advice and instruction, even if I didn’t understand it at the time. It makes sense now. Not just projects, but life stuff and how attitude and how we all get along is critical to real happiness.
IllustriousEnd2055@reddit
Many boys took shop class, not sure how common that is now.
Activist_Mom06@reddit
I (F) took woodshop and HomeEconomics. I am very good at both!
Activist_Mom06@reddit
No one was above asking for help. The youths today seem to take it as a sign of personal failure if they get help from people instead of the internet.
snark_maiden@reddit
A lot of knowledge passed down from one generation to the next.
beyondplutola@reddit
Based on the work of the past homeowners in my 102yo house, they often made it up as they went along and did it wrong.
porschephille@reddit
I feel this so strongly in my 1917 house…
vodeodeo55@reddit
My dad installed his own faucets. Every single one of then turns the wrong way, but he by-god installed them.
Anxious-Advantage238@reddit
Sounds like a great plumber to me! Your dad taught my husband who's no longer allowed in the bathroom with anything that resembles a wrench after he and his friend put this gigantic hole in my bathtub which spewed water into my side of the closet! BANNED FOR LIFE! Hell that friend is lucky to be allowed back in my house bc it was his idea and poor naive who didn't know better just went along with him (y'all believe that BS right? Poor and naive my ass! Well I played along as long as he bought me a new wardrobe AND SHOES!)
Num10ck@reddit
its your duty to reverse them. hope they are cartridge based.
Admirable-Boss9560@reddit
This!
DarthVader808@reddit
TimeLife books
BusyMap9686@reddit
Heck yeah. Timelife, popular mechanics, handyman, good housekeeping. I used to read those at my grandparents back in the day. I still prefer an article over a video for learning skills. We weren't without access to knowledge before the internet. It just took more time and effort to get it.
GeoHog713@reddit
We had those books - the red ones with all the DIY projects
Glittering-Show-5521@reddit
We had a pair of these books growing up. They even had instructions to build a travel trailer (some would call it a camper) and a wood boat.
No-Conference-2502@reddit
Popular Mechanics books
Glittering-Show-5521@reddit
At first I was thinking that wasn't it, but after googling it, I believe it was two books of a set from the 1960s. Thanks.
GeoHog713@reddit
I remember one had instructions to build a sauna.
Glittering-Show-5521@reddit
I remember that, too.
maester_blaster@reddit
How many reddit questions are basically, how did people know things out communicate before the Internet? It's not like there were whole industries devoted to printing and distribution of information on paper, or institutions in every town that collected, sorted and helped people access paper information.
DarthVader808@reddit
Like Chilton manuals.
RoundingDown@reddit
That and their parents grew up on farms and just knew how to do things.
drk_knight_67@reddit
My old man grew up on a farm. He just knew how to do shit.
Thatstealthygal@reddit
I was both shocked and amused when people at my old office needed to go and dig things, and two of the men I worked with, who were older than me, had NO IDEA HOW TO USE A SHOVEL. Despite being an indoorsy nose-in-a-book kid I guess I learned how to dig by osmosis, from farm-raised dad and gardener mum.
hankenator1@reddit
My dad went to boarding school and worked in international trade, he still knew a ton of shit about carpentry and electrical stuff. He built small wooden sailboats from scratch and maintained and sailed an old larger wooden boat. Somehow this very white collar worker was the guy everyone came to when they needed rigging or mooring lines spliced.
Have no idea how someone who worked in an office learned all the blue collar trades he did. My guess is lots of reading.
LYL_Homer@reddit
My dad had the yellow Readers Digest one.
Dismal_Patient_3781@reddit
Judy from Timelife Books!
SignificantApricot69@reddit
I feel like at least half of my public library consisted of these books and every bookstore had/has (B&N currently, for example) racks full of magazines dedicated to home improvement, garden projects, woodworking, etc
Num10ck@reddit
your local library has tons of these and they are still quite helpful.
DaddyBeanDaddyBean@reddit
And not necessarily father to son, grandfather to grandson. (Replace genders as needed.) The guy next door was about 15 years older than my dad and showed him how to do a lot of things. My dad didn't work on cars beyond changing the oil; my FIL taught me how to do brakes, alternators, starters, etc, and now I do 90% of my own work.
aluminumnek@reddit
One grandfather was a plumber and welder. The other helped build the Al-Can highway when in the military and had experience with erecting equipment, building bridges and whatnot. He was also a pilot. His brother was a woodworker and built boats for people.
ranhayes@reddit
I grew up in a family of contractors on my mom’s side of the family. Grandfather was a carpenter and painter who had a farm, uncle was a carpenter, other uncle was a painter primarily but did woodworking. My dad was a painter. Other grandfather worked for the county. I had shop and drafting classes in high school in the 80s. Before the internet I would ask around or look it up at the library. But a lot of it was trial and error, especially auto mechanics. When something broke on my car I would just have to figure it out. Chilton manuals and Popular Mechanics were good resources.
vulkoriscoming@reddit
I lived by Chilton manual when I had to do my own car repair. Extremely helpful
ranhayes@reddit
They don’t publish them anymore. I know you can find practically everything online but I would still like to have them.
TripMaster478@reddit
This. Kiddos learned from their parents and the knowledge was passed down. I learned how to drywall by my dad. Never needed to know how, doubt I'd do it myself now.
thebluelunarmonkey@reddit
This. I had a single mom. Single best thing she ever did was let me live with this WWII vet and his wife starting 4th grade (\~1980). Every day after school I got home, "Hey Bear... let's get to work." (the slogan on my youtube DIY channel - link in profile). They lived on a parcel of land on my granddaddy's farm just a couple hundred yards from granddaddy's house.
He taught me small engine repair (his retired side gig), auto mechanics, carpentry (I later got into wood working) everything home DIY.
Weekends, he taught me hunting/shooting and lots of fishing. I wasn't into killing and eating game. So dove hunting, I'd play the role of the retriever (labrador or golden, dunno which).
Learned farming/cattle/diesel engines from granddaddy
I have a pitifully small DIY channel with almost no views, but maybe one day what I post will help. I don't post most of my work because jugging a camera around can add 3x to how long it takes to get work done, not to mention hours of editing.
On my own, in jr high, I got into electronic circuit design and programming. programming books and magazines. electronic design from Forrest Mims' Electronic Notebooks from radio shack.
Had I stayed with my mom, I'd be a know-nothing. His teaching just exploded me into DIY. I've owned 2 homes since the 90s and I've never had a plumber, HVAC tech, garage door repairman, NOTHING come out to fix anything for me. The only work I deferred to professionals was resheathing and reshingling my roof. Just can't do that by myself. Last time I got a diagnosis from a mechanic (dealership) was 1997 and they couldn't figure out my intermittent problem either. I've rebuilt an engine age 20..etc.
I'd rather teach a neighborhood kid what I know instead of having to film it... but... just can't have a mentor in this male-hostile climate. not sure if kids these days would put in the work anyway.
phoneguyfl@reddit
This. I was lucky enough (I now realize) to learn how to do anything in the yard, paint the house, or fix the car from my parents who had parents/grandparents that lived on farms. So far I think I’ve been able to pass on the knowledge to my kids, but time will tell if it “sticks”.
snark_maiden@reddit
My late FIL knew a great deal about house construction - he built the family cottage and did renovations in his and MIL’s home. However, my husband has next to no interest in doing any projects around the house, so either I do them or they don’t get done (we don’t have the money to hire people to do the projects for us).
stigbugly@reddit
This! A lot of generational knowledge, trial and error to become proficient at many tasks.
trUth_b0mbs@reddit
this right here.
this is why the older generation are so resourceful and resilient - we tried, failed, kept trying, asking around and trying again until we fixed it.
Malfunction1972@reddit
This is the way.
Disassociated_Assoc@reddit
Generational knowledge used to be more of a thing. My granddad taught me tons on our farm when I was growing up. This was in the 70’s/80’s before c-phones and the internet. He learned by doing, and from the teachings of his parents/grandparents. I’ve tried passing as much on to my own kids, but it’s more difficult to teach someone who would rather query the web.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
Have you ever gone to a library?
Couldbeaccurate@reddit (OP)
I was asking about my father. I go to libraries but that doesn't mean my dad did.
SignificantApricot69@reddit
Ok every library, book store, grocery store, beer/wine/soda store and many gas stations in the 80s had home improvement books and magazines
Crewstage8387@reddit
Popular Mechanics, Home Mechanix, Mechanics Illustrated, Family handyman (magazine and encyclopedia). Also back in the day Junior or High school had shop classes
mistertireworld@reddit
And you could ask the guy at the hardware store/nursery/lumberyard.
Life_Roll420@reddit
Library. Probably the 660-670's
MobilityTweezer@reddit
I salute your percision!
DonAmechesBonerToe@reddit
That’s a deep Dewey Decimal drop.
lsp2005@reddit
They have woodworking class. My son made a beautiful bench and cutting board that looks like a chess board.
AppropriateAmoeba406@reddit
Chiltons Manuals for cars, right?
NCC-1701-1@reddit
Engines were simpler too. I did a lot of replacing things until it all worked.
OrigRayofSunshine@reddit
Haynes has pictures
exscapegoat@reddit
I learned some very basic skills for replacing a handle and stopper in a toilet in shop class and by my dad teaching me.
HipposPooToo@reddit
I still reference Family Handyman on a regular basis. My dad has years of those magazines.
626337@reddit
Link to archives of Popular Science, 137 years' worth: https://www.popsci.com/diy/use-popsci-google-books-archive/
Recent_Data_305@reddit
My husband leaned basic electricity, plumbing, and carpentry in high school. He learned automotive and small engine repair at home. I picked up a book on home repair and improvements, I think from Home Depot. Household cleaning and such I learned through chores and being yelled out when I didn’t do them right.
ManuallyAutomatic1@reddit
They were taught by their fathers and uncles etc. Did you pay attention lol.
NPHighview@reddit
I’m 68. When my wife and I bought our first house in 1981, we needed to install a dishwasher and garbage disposal. Her dad showed up with a drill, a bunch of wrenches, a propane torch, and said “let’s go!” I learned a lot, both about plumbing and not hesitating to take on jobs like those.
Iwonatoasteroven@reddit
My Dad had some books on how to do some home improvements, and he grew up doing some things with his Dad. I also remember the big fat Chilton car repair manuals. He really could do so much on his own.
Top_Replacement3256@reddit
It used to be so common place that it was knowledge that got passed down through the generations, now we are all rediscovering it after a few generations didn’t continue to pass it along.
itsmeherenowok@reddit
My Dad told me he’d go to a hardware store, ask some questions, and then just go home & do the thing.
Sometimes it worked out fine, and sometimes not - back to the hardware store he’d go.
CattleDowntown938@reddit
Bob villa
signguy989@reddit
You figure things out on your own. Before something goes on the internet, SOMEBODY had to just figure it out. You also had knowledgeable people that worked at hardware stores that could help with materials.
cameo674@reddit
Library, neighbors, family members all helped out. Our first home had a boomer next door and a silent generation neighbor that was often helping us figure things out as we muddled through projects. We still have a series of books with how to directions for electrical and painting projects.
Leading-Summer-4724@reddit
My grandfather, whose father died when he was very young, learned to enclose the carport and build a third bedroom from reading it in a series of construction books at the library back in the late 60’s. He learned how to frame it all out, run the electricity, etc. He had my father assist him and so taught him the skills during the process also.
activematrix99@reddit
My Dad and I watched (still do!) This Old House and we had a stream of Time Life books from the Library. He's 82 and still at it, had to cut back (pun not intended) on using saws and fine detail work due to essential tremor. I don't think he learned shit from his Dad, who was a drunk and rarely around.
AngleNo1957@reddit
Mechanics Illustrated complete how to series
Thatstealthygal@reddit
People asked questions and retained knowledge gained on the job. Also libraries.
Disastrous_Drag6313@reddit
Books.
stabbingrabbit@reddit
Popular Mechanic had some stuff in the day. Lots of woodworking magazines etc.
BoneDaddy77@reddit
My dad was a payroll/software analyst from the Air Force back in the 80's. He and a friend who knew how to drive an excavator installed us a 20x40 in-ground pool over a long weekend. Pool is still there working today. I barely have time to cut my grass.
brinkbam@reddit
I was wondering about this recently because neither of my parents finished high school or went to college but somehow they knew how to do shit. Especially my dad.
I can remember them watching This Old House lol I'm pretty sure Bob Vila had how to books you could buy at home Depot or something too. And I think they asked neighbors or my grandparents for input. And there was one uncle that he always went to when he was stumped on a car/engine issue.
Far_Winner5508@reddit
I have a bunch of Black & Decker home project books.
I imagine most tool manufacturers had a things like this, designe to help sell tools.
ToneSenior7156@reddit
Books and manuals and helpful friends and family.
chiralityhilarity@reddit
Also people at the hardware stores knew stuff.
pixiefarm@reddit
also there were hardware stores closer to your house than there are these days, before everything consolidated to home. Depot. I used to go to one half a block from my house when I was a literal child and talk to them about how to paint my room and the like.
blackpony04@reddit
Back in the late 90s, early 00s when I was renovating my 125+ year old house (at the time), believe it or not, Home Depot was staffed with retired or moonlighting tradespeople who all knew their shit.
But yeah, the local True Value guys were the best. My guy owned his shop for 50 years, and he could answer or find the answer for any home related question you could think of.
dayburner@reddit
Being staffed with retired and moonlighting tradesmen was how the Home Depot built its brand. Like you said, they got away from this around the Great Recession.
Throckmorton1975@reddit
If I know exactly what I need, I'll go to Home Depot. If I need to ask about what I need, then I'll go to the neighborhood hardware store and they'll explain what I need and how to do it. Though I have met some very knowledgeable tradesmen working at HD.
TheMarriedUnicorM@reddit
I agree! My Dad often took me with him to places like McCoy’s (hardware and lumber) and AutoZone where people knew what the thing was and how to use / apply it.
I’m old, so I remember Radio Shack. If an electronic or one of our toys broke, Dad knew RS had the solder to fix it. And the staff could explain the best way to repair it.
I was at HD yesterday and the staff (when I was able to find one) didn’t know jack. I knew more! And that’s scary. Lol.
feedmetothevultures@reddit
Retail really peaked in the 70s/80s/90s. Then we traded it away for google and amazon.
AgonizingGasPains@reddit
Popular Science, Popular Mechanix, Mother Earth News magazines. They were ubiquitous in my home growing up.
Fulghn@reddit
Same information you had available. They did stuff with their dad and other family. Also family members typically did a lot more DIY projects with other extended family members who, I guess depending on your family, had relatives in various 'trades' instead of office and online jobs. I had an uncle that was an electrician, a cousin of my dad's that was a mason, my grandfather owned a small construction company, etc. I think in 80s and before most families were less spread all over the country by job changes and many tended to marry someone closer to home, so you had access to their family members expertise and experience.
It was common for my dad to have someone he knew from work come over to help work on the car - how often do any of us involve ourselves with co-workers repair work of any kind these days?
gicoli4870@reddit
People just tried and saw what worked. And in the analogue world, that was literally easier to do.
But let's not romanticize life back then too much. A lot of shit was just jerry rigged together and not always meant to stand the test of time.
🌞
No-Conference-2502@reddit
My Dad could do just about anything and do it well. He grew up poor so if something got done he did it himself. He had friends who were the same way and they helped each other. They all farmed and that requires wide array of skills. I am fortunate he passed many of those skills to me. I built my own house at 30. Always had a classic car or truck I was restoring. Can weld, do residential wiring, plumbing, hunt, fish, etc, etc. it’s just stuff I grew up doing.
PGHNeil@reddit
I remember seeing a lot of poor workmanship back in the day.
cawfytawk@reddit
Aside from magazines and how-to books, People used to talk to each other on the block back then. Dads used to borrow each other's tools, talk about law movers, grass seed and engine oil. Moms used to exchange recipes and offer hand-me-down clothes to new moms. It was more of a community back then. Facebook groups expanded it to include a broader reach but it's the same concept of neighborly love
OptionWrongUsally@reddit
They talked to each other because the had too. They didn’t want to but they had to get help. Not people don’t want to talk to people because in general people are fucking assholes
Logical_consequences@reddit
My Dad was very handy. He grew up with a handy Dad, asked friends for advice, and also said he learned a lot from “This Old House” when it came along later.
OkInitiative7327@reddit
Sounds like mine. His dad was a contractor and he learned from him and we used to watch This Old House.
SLorma@reddit
When my PawPaw died I took all of his reader's digest how to books. One of them was from the 60s...as is our house. It's like an instruction manual and a warning all at once.
RevMen@reddit
Ask someone who knew.
HiOscillation@reddit
With this book (which I still have)
https://archive.org/details/readersdigestfix00plea
Also, at least in my family, my dad knew how to build and fix stuff, and now I know how to build fix stuff. We also RTFM. Knowing how to do things was just...life. But we took it a bit further.
Back when we were younger and our kids were very small, we formed a "Home Improvement Cooperative" in 2005 with 3 other families (all Gen-X). We met once a month and took on various projects, tiny and huge. I mean HUGE (like "add a second floor to a single-floor building). Each time we met, everyone did something, including any of the kids old enough to walk.
Here's the list of some projects/tasks we did over the course of 10-ish years, almost entirely without Youtube.
*Solar Hot Water System Rooftop Installation •Insulating Attic• Install a Brick Walk, Ladies mend & make Halloween costumes•Garage Clean-out, Move The Big Rock & Paint Studio •Potluck (4 injured hubbies)•Basement Clean-out •Basement Drop Ceiling & Spackling, Back Room Clean-out•Plumbing fixes, Ladies mend & felt & fold brochures•Take a few trees down, yard work, install clothes line, hot water heater install •Sand decks, fix kitchen drawer, paint bathroom ceiling •Re-plumb deck faucets, hallways paint touch-ups •Clear brush, build sliding closet doors •Smash old patio, hang gate, sand & prime •Plumb back porch faucets, move fridge, design and begin work on porch roof, yard clean-up, pantry and mudroom clean-out, install vac-pan, build shelf •Winterize studio; build second floor on main cottage; kids make ornaments•Total Bathroom Rip-Out and reno part I•Total Bathroom Rip-Out and reno part II, paint Kid's 's room like the ocean•Extend 2nd floor loft over kitchen•Install Bathroom ventilation fan, build reading room bookshelves, kitchen door de-squeaked•Purge attic, sand/strip siding, Label fuse box, plant flowers/veggies, fix gate, detangle jewelry* Strip and Finish Floors, Do All The Caulking, basement clean-out, cleaning gutters, installing gutter shields, Painting 3 bedrooms, Painting bathroom ceiling & bedroom wall; replace tiles in mud room; investigate and fix nonfunctional outlet; move all the firewood, Extend chimney, install bathroom exhaust, enclose Pex in Kid's room, hang fire extinguisher, Make a Glitter ceiling, mix painting, electrical, Install Attic stairs, new ceiling fan wiring and installation, dining room purge & organize, repairs to deck lights, fix silverware drawer & kitchen sink, electrical exploration of stove & attic fan issues, Hen house addition, pruning/weeding/trimming, sliding door repair, Clean fridge, paint house, Relay brick porch, much electrical work, painting blue ceiling, cleaning windows & blue bottles, Plumb hen house, clean garage, Deep clean book room, switch master bedroom & book room, something mysterious in the basement, Clean rooms, sort clothes, fix heat in bedroom, Dry wall loft area, move floor in Kid's room, Basement floor painting prep, wood cutting/stacking, clothing storage sorting, Stair repair, sink baseboard repair, solar panel repair, , theater rigging & West Side Story Show by the kids in the basement, Basement clean-out, many small repairs, Restore baseboard hot water heat, shelving in shop, couch slip-cover....
and maybe more.
Today, my kids are the ones with the tools and the know-how. My daughter just recently called me asking for advice on how to build a bed in her apartment.
Just_Another_Day_926@reddit
https://www.amazon.com/New-Complete-Do-Yourself-Manual
I had one of these as I did not have dad to show me what to do. Along with some other books specifically on electrical, plumbing, etc.
As well, the hardware stores had employees that were experienced and could provide advice/pointers. The big box stores got rid of them like a decade ago to save money. I assume between YT and lots of items designed for inexperienced diys like interlocking laminate flooring. ACE Hardware still has knowledgeable employees.
And you always asked a relative or friend/coworker that had already done the same work. Might even borrow a specialized tool they bought just for that job.
Couldbeaccurate@reddit (OP)
I think help in the store is really lost. You used to have folks that tried from the trades working in the stores but it's not that so much any more. ACE, Pleasants, and other hardware stores still have some staff that knows things.
Just_Another_Day_926@reddit
HD (and probably Lowes too) got rid of those experienced folks because they had to pay them more. So saved money by hiring regular people for a much lower wage. Happened sometime in the 2000s. I definitely noticed the change.
Nowadays you are just lucky if they can point you to the right aisle - they ain't gonna find that specific item for you much less have any recommendations or helpful hints. Unless you are lucky to find the bored retired trade guy that works there for fun.
No_Dear1957@reddit
People back then had common sense and could figure stuff out on their own.
Beautiful-Event-1213@reddit
Local library-- my dad made copies of the pages he needed in automotive manuals, or made notes in a little notebook he kept in his pocket protector with a small slide rule and little screwdrivers.
Or ask around amongst the neighbors. Or ask a friend. He was an engineer, and all his friends were engineers. Sooner or later, he'd find someone with the information he needed.
Melodic_Scallion_578@reddit
Oral tradition. Either from the guy at the hardware store, from a family member, neighbor, etc..
Loud_Cockroach_3344@reddit
OP - I have the same question.
My dad was a brilliant, degreed engineer who’d grown up in poverty - no indoor plumbing, only ate it if they could grow it or hunt it. He could rebuild truck and car engines before he was old enough to drive, could build nice furniture with the most rudimentary tools, poured and finished all our concrete patios, etc by himself, and literally made his own jigs to ensure the trusses he hand-cut for the roof in his barns were all the same… not to mention repairing nearly all our electronics himself as he’d done 3 years in Electrical Engineering at university before switching to another engineering major.
He once commented he admired me for being fearless in tackling projects - and all I could think of was “I’m an imposter next to him - I have YT and the internet to help me while he was on his own…”
Designer-Mirror-7995@reddit
Lots of trial and error DIY, lots of older folks passing on what they knew to any who would listen.
My stepdad taught me a lot of repair and installation stuff so that "you won't have to depend on any man to do it". I passed on much of that knowledge to my sons and daughters, and now they can get step by step instructions via YouTube if they get stuck on something. I like that.
ny-central-line@reddit
When I first bought my house 20 years ago I had a bunch of books I’d picked up at used book sales that covered all the major stuff - electrical, plumbing, drywall, moulding. I still refer to them at times because there are no ads. :) But that was how my parents’ generation did it.
OrdinarySubstance491@reddit
They were taught by their elders. My dad grew up hunting, fishing, and farming. Then he went to the military. He never had to "research" how to do things, he was taught.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
fake it until you fix it? lol.
I learned a lot from my dad and grandpa and the other stuff I just do it and figure it out on the way. The only time I use google to fix things is when its electronic/computer based. nuts and bolts are the easiest, wood and nails/screws are next.
Hot-Celebration5855@reddit
Libraries + communal knowledge. You had a friend or neighbour or relative who knew who to do project X
OutrageousAdvisor458@reddit
My dad had a copy of how to fix damn near everything, readers digest guide to home repair and a basic electrical wiring books. Between those 3 he could figure out how to fix pretty much anything he came across
LemonSlicesOnSushi@reddit
If I ever need good advice, I go to Lowes or Home Depot early on a weekend and find the old guy working in the section that has the materials for my project. 9 times out of 10, I get solid advice.
SpreadsheetSiren@reddit
Based on my house, not everyone knew what they were doing. We’ve had to fix more 70s era DIY messes than I care to think about.
FloridaGirlMary@reddit
His dad taught him
Reachforthesky777@reddit
When I was in 8th grade I started my first "business" offering handyman services in the village and hamlet where I lived. This was maybe 1987. I would do things like install stockade fences, install split rail fences, gardening, painting, minor carpentry work, pool maintenance, etc.
Everything I knew at that point came from a handful of sources: my father, my grandmother's brothers who were all builders, furniture makers, and engineers, and a series of books that may have been Sears or Craftsman brand books describing in detail how to do a lot of interesting things. These books took up more space than our Encyclopedia Britannica set.
Printed reference materials, mentorship, and exposure.
phlebonaut@reddit
Library. My Dad would check out books on homebuilding, projects, etc. When he was patient, he was good, but he got angry a lot, so sometimes he would give up. Then move onto something else.
moopet@reddit
The road I grew up on had 8 cottages, and there was a cook, a gardener (both tied to the local manor if it doesn't sound too victorian), a blacksmith, a welder and a bookbinder. We didn't have much in the way of skills except general labour, but we did have a whole lot of sand we'd dig up for people.
The welder had a pit in his garage for working under cars, and he made us a set of fireplace tools and a surround. A friend used to be a roofer and so on.
People would come around and help out with things we wanted doing, and my dad would go (and sometimes draft me) to help other people out with things, and each time you went you'd learn something new.
I think learning through sharing help is something that's maybe not gone, but reduced a lot. People try to be more independent now, either because they have the Internet or because they don't know their neighbours.
I know where I live I don't know mine beyond waving-to level.
Few_Whereas5206@reddit
I surrounded myself with handy people.
MNPS1603@reddit
Word of mouth from others, etc. my dad was a mechanical engineer so he had a pretty good understanding of how things worked. He would do all of his own car maintenance, but he would also buy a Chiltons Manual for any car he had - it was a guide that showed everything in the car and how it came apart and would go back together. I think you would also ask people at the hardware store and they were genuinely knowledgeable back then.
Couldbeaccurate@reddit (OP)
This post has the memories coming back. I used to work on the car brakes with my dad. We used those manuals for that. At some point, those manuals and my knowledge of them disappeared.
thedog420@reddit
My uncle was an awesome DIYer back in the day, and still is today. I remember he had tons of books. So the answer is in part, good old fashioned books.
Soulwandering@reddit
He had already spent his lifetime learning and doing those things before you came along. Most likely by seeing someone else do it and then copying them, also by trial and error. People knew and helped each other more back then. My mom and grandparents used a Farmer's Almanac and magazines to learn from. My dad had friends and family he would go ask questions of. People would come to my grandparents and parents to ask questions of them too. There was way more community then.
EverrreyDayisGahood@reddit
Books and experiences. I was a kid helping my Mother and Grandmother and Aunt Can in the summer . Anything from the Garden was canned . Making Jam . Now they are all gone and I Can and make Jam myself. Yes I have YT and can watch master Canners . It’s just something I picked up watching as a kid . I still have all my Mothers and Grandmothers old Ball & Mason Jars . 🥰
she_slithers_slyly@reddit
Less distraction = more self propelled mental acuity.
Waaaaay too much distraction today.
Speaking of distractions, most YouTubers aren't inventors or innovators; iow, they're regurgitating what sometime else has already said/done.
WingZombie@reddit
I remember my dad once saying “I don’t know how it’s supposed to be done, but I know how I’m going to do it.”.
We just used logic and reason to figure stuff out. We also checked out some TimeLife home improvement books at the library sometimes.
Separate_Tax_2647@reddit
I think because of more people taking jobs requiring modern technology, there are less people per capita in the trades, so it is LESS likely that there are people around you to help and teach.... and those people are busy working anyway.
fitlikeabody@reddit
Small village in Scotland dweller here. For most things they learned from their forebears, for others they asked at the pub on a Saturday and on Sunday one or two with the knowing of would appear to get things started and spectate. This would be repaid in beer or some knowing of some other tasks.
Taurusmoon66@reddit
They watched their adults, I watched mine (that includes enduring bullcrap from older fellow employees to learn their skills). As we watched we learned what we should do and after one or two not so great results it became aa “ability”. Learn by actual performance of a task. My kids always say that’s not what YouTube says. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they’re not. That’s when I give them the “look”. And no I don’t allow it to be recorded, both the look and the task. Such a difference between times, waste as much time photographing and recording then doing. And there are thousands of people doing the same thing.
WhenVioletsTurnGrey@reddit
Life was a lot more. "hands on" before the internet generations
OpinionDry8223@reddit
Books
LAJ_72@reddit
The odd magazine, an afternoon beer with the neighbour two doors down whose brother is a paver, a discussion on paint at the local shop. Because the internet wasn't around yet and there was a need for diffusion of this knowledge, it happened through these networks out of necessity, and maybe we are all less social now that this need for knowledge transfer is catered for externally.
Reasonable-Panic-680@reddit
Stone tablets we passed around
lsp2005@reddit
They had others teach them. They went to Boy Scouts and learned hands on kid focused badges for skills around the home and in life. Their parents and grandparents taught them. These kinds of legacies are invaluable, and unfortunately not always appreciated by the younger person learning them. My parents would hire people, so I had to learn on my own. I made sure to teach my own kids so they don’t have to make mistakes along the way like I did.
Anxious-Advantage238@reddit
When they were young? My husband was researching projects yesterday for the yard lord he's so proud of some crazy water system. I'm like you turn on the water hose bully for you. No they got AI to do it and lord that man has heard of it and he is having it installed in my yard right now. I bet you can see it from space and it would control the ISS! SMH 🤦♀️
One-girl-circus@reddit
Time/Life books. Or parents/grandparents who both cared AND only worked 40 hr weeks
RedwoodsareAwesome@reddit
I had a big yellow book on home improvement when I was a kid, plus a grandfather that taught us everything.
u35828@reddit
Readers Digest had a thick tome on home maintenance. Popular Mechanics put out an encyclopedia set on everything having to do with home and auto maintenance.
NorraVavare@reddit
My dad was taught by his grandfather. My mom learned from a set of 4 books specifically meant for homeowners to reference. My mom is not good with pavers, I have a scar covering my knee to prove it. My dad is so used to fixing stuff he thought he could fix his PC. It was a software problem...
tbodillia@reddit
My dad earned extra money working for his uncles building houses, back when you'd hire 1 crew for everything from footers to ridge vents. I was dragged out with him when I was old enough to swing a hammer. I have no idea where or when the uncles learned.
SassyStealthSpook@reddit
Mother Earth magazine!
in-a-microbus@reddit
Back in 2001 we wanted to refinish the hardwood floors. We read some books and talked to people who did it before but the thing that really helped was when we rented the floor sander it came with a VHS instruction video.
I legit think that video was uploaded to YouTube.
USAF_Retired2017@reddit
My stepdad asked his dad or brothers.
jmymac@reddit
Easy, They did it all wrong.
Scooting my boomer dad into his forever apartment now and fixing all the shit he and mom did poorly, illegally, etc along the way.
Pain the ass but satisfying in its own way.
glitteringdreamer@reddit
Phone a friend!
oomchu@reddit
This Old House would've been a big one. My dad was big into gardening and subscribed to A LOT of gardening magazines and kept them cataloged. So yeah, magazines, PBS and the library. It was out there, but not as convenient.
1stUserEver@reddit
They talked to their neighbors or they “knew a guy”
Zealousideal_Sink420@reddit
The library! My mom was always the handy one and she had a book series that was sort of an encyclopedia of home repair tutorials. She installed lighting and all sorts of other things from those books!
The way I was raised, every time we had a new idea we were interested in, we’d run to the library to dig through the card catalog to get to the right section of books, then dig around in that section for random books on the subject.
chiralityhilarity@reddit
I was about to say the library. I forget the name but there was a series of auto repair books too.
inpatient20@reddit
Chilton
Dru65535@reddit
Also, Haynes
HikeRobCT@reddit
The Bentley Guide was the bible, at least in the VW world. That and the infamous Muir Guide, where the units of time included “let the engine run while you roll a cigarette and smoke it…”.
GrumpyCatStevens@reddit
I haven't used it much lately, but I still have a Haynes manual for the 1990-1997 Miata. Might be using it soon, because I lost the output shaft seal on the transmission and am probably looking at replacing the trans.
It's a job I can handle. I did a clutch on my previous Miata, and of course the transmission has to come out in order to do that job. The car will get a new clutch and flywheel along with the transmission.
pixiefarm@reddit
How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive For The Compleat Ignormamus or something. hippie era book that was around through the 80's-90's for sure
qrpc@reddit
I remember in the 80’s when a friend’s ex-hippie father helped me replace a rear break drum on my ‘74 Beetle. We didn’t have a torque wrench so to get the 253 ft-pounds we got the pounds using a bathroom scale and the feet using a leg of their daughter’s swing set as a cheater bar.
GrumpyCatStevens@reddit
For the Compleat Idiot. My uncle probably still has a copy of this book somewhere, along with a '73 Super Beetle he just can't part with for some reason.
stigbugly@reddit
I work at a VW repair shop, and although most of my work is on the newer models, sometimes a classic air cooled will come through for repairs or custom work. A lot of new owners will ask me about repair manuals and I’ll tell them “John Muir’s idiot manual” and the factory repair manual referred to as the “Bentley manual, Between the two, if you can get a good answer that works, please don’t make something up…”
SueAnnNivens@reddit
Or Haynes manuals. I purchased a new one every time I purchased a car and kept it in the back window with the atlas.
UnknownPrimate@reddit
I had a buddy who worked for the local library system while they were mustering all of these out. Let's just say I'm now the guy to talk to if you need to figure out how to fix a random vehicle during the apocalypse...
ABn0rmal1@reddit
Top answer here. Lots of how to books at a library.
Zealousideal_Sink420@reddit
Oh! It was a Time Life series for home repair! I bet anything my dad found it at some flea market or used book store. We had lots of random things like that! I still have the Child Craft encyclopedia set he found. It was well loved!
ndbak907@reddit
Magazines and the library. And my dad grew up on a farm in Ohio and learned a TON. Looking back they did a lot of great projects but some others were terribly, terribly done. But perfection didn’t seem to be the objective… functional was.
Admirable-Boss9560@reddit
Talking to the guy at the hardware store and hoping he knew what he was talking about, and winging it.
Wooden-Glove-2384@reddit
lots and lots of jerry rigging
HerrDoctorBenway@reddit
My old man once told me when he was a young man he got offered a job to plumb a new build house. The problem was he didn’t know how to sweat copper. He called a dude who he knew had the skill and asked him how to do it. The guy gave him a run down and my dad went and did the job successfully. Eventually he became an industrial pipe fitting and instrumentation expert.
Just had to find people who knew how to do it and fake it til you make it.
New_Needleworker_473@reddit
Learned from others and books. I remember my dad having a pile of construction books that he used for projects when he bought our first house. DIY books were very popular.
Kali-of-Amino@reddit
There weren't just how-to books and how-to book serieses, there were multi-volume how-to encyclopedias -- and much better than the average YouTube video.
JazzfanRS@reddit
Reader's digest book of home do-it-yourself projects
or if you are still feral
Do it yourself bushcraft : a book of the big outdoors
Source: archive.org (keyword search 'do it yourself')
jonm61@reddit
I decided a while ago that either they knew a hell of a lot more than I do, or they were really good at faking it. 🤷🏻♂️
Endless-Non-Mono@reddit
I still get magazine (paper mags) with instructions for some projects that I can't find easily online.
That's how I did it as a kid. I recently made a radio from an old Radioshack kit for my backyard for party we having and soldered a solar panel to it so that we can have easy access to radio for guest.
Cisru711@reddit
My grandfather had a fairly thick book that was a home repair manual. It's completely outdated for how my house was built, but I'm all set if I ever get forced to live in the 1920s.
mizzannthrope05@reddit
Popular mechanics.
kchavez314@reddit
The knowledge was passed down verbally and doing the work from the elders. My grandpa taught my dad, my other grandpa taught me very young how to garden. It was a lot of hands on approach.
jgrant0553@reddit
It was called books. There was this strange building called a library and it had ALL the books. Remember having to find all the info on a DIY project in books. Charts and loading diagrams all that stuff was in books. Time/Life would publish whole DIY books with nothing but plans and projects. Life was so simple then.
OrigRayofSunshine@reddit
Grew up in Detroit.
Someone was always doing something. Changing oil, sewing, painting the house, laying tile, fixing a car, cooking, canning, crochet, knitting, you name it. If someone didn’t know how to fix something, someone knew someone. Then you hung out and watched and learned. Sometimes learned a few new words along the way. My dad learned a bit in the marines.
Now, I’ve got a hood full of millennials who missed out on shop class and get angry when you don’t hire a contractor (because of some hoa bs), and when you do, it’s only for stuff above your skill level. (They complain about that too, because god forbid it takes a crew 3 days to get hardiplank up) Plus, I have to live in that whiny ass state south of Michigan now and they all bitch just to bitch. Guess what, bitches? If I don’t have to pay $70 for an oil change, I’m not going to because we have a drop off for used oil. Among other things.
I’ve not yet hacked their Wi-Fi’s, but baby shark on repeat can happen.
MissDisplaced@reddit
My dad (Silent Gen) grew up on a farm and learned how to fix stuff from his dad and grandpa. His dad was a mechanic. I remember my dad having projects every summer on his 4th of July week off (build a cement porch, shingle and paint house, etc.) and my mom’s dad would come to help, and sometimes his brothers.
Acrobatic_Ocelot_461@reddit
"We don't need no stinking research" I'm 57, last week I built a small retaining wall in my backyard, I still haven't recovered.
Beauphedes_Knutz@reddit
Two things:
1) Self help/how to books. I just threw out two shelves worth of these "highly valuable" books. I took them pretending I would use them and stopped at the dumpster.
2) S.W.A.G. - Scientific Wild Ass Guessing. I've spent most of my adult life de-boomering houses. I now own businesses and they do the same. Thanks to their stupid asses and just making do, we have volumes of building codes we have to adhere to.
I was my father's little helper. When I entered the job market, the sheer volume of bullshit I had to unlearn was astounding.
Ron_Bangton@reddit
We had these things… if I remember correctly they were called books or something like that.
SnakeOiler@reddit
you have fallen into the trap where you don't have to think or solve problems. it gets worse in the future when it's all AI telling everyone lies and bullshit
exscapegoat@reddit
My dad was a mechanic. He had a subscription to popular mechanics. And we had family and friends from a wide variety of trades. So basically the family which would benefit from the project would buy beer and either make food or get cold cuts and pizza if it was really hot (little to no ac) for everyone. And they’d share knowledge as they were working on a project together. My dad’s areas of expertise were mechanics, electrical and carpentry.
But other people had expertise in plumbing or had more knowledge of electrics or construction. So it was barter style. The people who needed the project done would only have to pay for parts or supplies. And everyone was expected to chip in with their expertises when needed
LumpyPillowCat@reddit
Time Life books
DynoLa@reddit
I believe after the DIY movement in the 50s, 60s, and 70s started the permitting process. They just figured it out or got it close enough.
jetpack324@reddit
A lot of learning from the elders. Also a lot of trial and error. I learned a lot from my mistakes.
Funke-munke@reddit
usually by talking to the guy at the hardware store or an older relative or friend There used to be a lot of reference books also for this
Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit
You also had home improvement shows like This Old House
Appropriatelylazy@reddit
Friends, family, and people they met in stores that were helpful? The world is so closed off from itself now that we are amazed at how anyone survived without social media...
Great-Tical-Returns@reddit
If you didn't "know a guy" you'd find a book
Ok_Researcher_9796@reddit
Books were a thing.
RetroactiveRecursion@reddit
For all his faults and there were many, my dad was basically MacGyver. He could build or fix anything with a roll of gray tape and a wire coat hanger. He rebuilt a dilapidated inn complete with a full bar and, an arch doorway, and an apartment upstairs, he put in a stone patio, invented a gadget to get the sulfur smell out of water. He could do all of it. He would sit on the couch sometimes for hours, then suddenly clap is hands and exclaim "OK I know what I'm gonna do. Go get me a Phillips screwdriver and some olive oil!" And then ... after some cursing and shrugging, something amazing would happen.
He was still an ass, but it was a sight to behold.
RunningPirate@reddit
Dad taught me a lot about okie engineering.
Mr_MacGrubber@reddit
Their parents taught them shit. Our parents yelled at us to hold the light better.
But there were all sorts of DIY encyclopedias. My parents had a bunch of them and they showed how to do a ton of stuff.
Tacos_N_Bourbon@reddit
My dad worked in the trades along with my uncles. What they could not do, they usually had a trades buddy help/walk them through. My brother and I were taken to the job sites as kids during the summer to help. Our dad also had no issue trading out our labor for a cost savings on something he was not going to do. For instance, he was able to get a new roof cheaper because my brother and I packed all the shingles to the roof, removed the old roof and clean up the yard. Because all hell would break loose if he got a flat on the tractor while mowing the yard. Plus it kept two teenage boys out of trouble. To this day, I still do almost everything around the house. This includes majority of automotive repairs.
Diligent_Cover3368@reddit
I asked one ol timer and he said the key was putting the pieces in the proper order that you removed them so you knew how it went back together. I’ve used the trick and it helps but I still YouTube stuff
Short_Psychology_164@reddit
readers digest guide to home repair, and magazines. also this old house/PBS shows. popular mechanics magazine too!
bernardfarquart@reddit
Sunset home and garden books
justisme333@reddit
DIY as unsafely as possible because no one has the right to tell them what/how to do things, and they know it all already anyway.... maybe that was just my grandpa.
Roddy_Piper2000@reddit
Our parents all had friends. Some knew plumbing. Some knew auto mechanics. We would all reach out to each other to help and be doing it, we learned also
SueAnnNivens@reddit
People who worked in stores knew what they were doing. You could walk into Radio Shack and tell them what you were trying to do, and they knew what you needed. You used to could do the same thing at Home Depot until recently. Local hardware stores are better about this. Auto parts store seemed to hire mechanics, shade tree or not.
Many of us had shop and home ec. I took woodworking, metal working, plastic working, block printing, typesetting, silkscreening, sewing, and cooking in middle school. We learned how to use tools. I learned how to develop film in high school.
We also learned things from family. Everyone had a hobby or diy'ed, so they taught you what they knew. It was important to know how to fix your stuff or have a basic idea so you weren't ripped off.
RedditSkippy@reddit
There was no research. A project was started, followed by 53 trips to the hardware store.
Or, you invited over the relative who knew what they were doing, you made a lot of food, and you had a party.
Nakatomiplaza27@reddit
Books! I have an electrical wiring book I bought when I first moved into my home. Now I just use YouTube for everything.
Throckmorton1975@reddit
We had some home rehab books at our house that explained how to do wiring, plumbing, etc. I assume they were fairly common. Plus, a lot of the stuff my dad did sure wasn't going to pass any inspection. Luckily nothing burned down, but I think they had to have some work done when it came time to sell the house.
FHOCJD@reddit
Dad knew guys who knew the stuff he didn't.
Librarians knew how to help us ALL find BOOKS.
MaintenanceCapable83@reddit
my father offered all 6 of his kids time to learn what he knew in many fields of trades.
I was very mechanical and curious how things worked.... i took after my father the most. So it's a bit of experience, experiment and determination to do a project.
I'm hitting 60 and still doing projects, but my kids have no interest.
Also, the library has / had many books that helped me along the way. Cars to construction, masonry to electrical to electronics....
02meepmeep@reddit
I had a couple of books. A good one is “how to fix damn near everything”. The internet is too fast to use the books anymore now.
Exact_Acanthaceae294@reddit
Yes.
We had tons of how to books.
Sewing - Singer's 22 volume of sewing
Gardening - I have a 26 volume encyclopedia of gardening
Home repair - I have two 24+ volume encyclopedias of home improvement & repair - one set from the 1950's, one set from the late '60's or early '70s.
Cooking - I own several sets (12 volumes or more) of cooking encyclopedias. I have a separate collection of Better Homes & Gardens cookbooks starting from the late 1940's to the late '70s (everything after that is trash).
We also had magazines that literally covered everything listed above.
This may be hard to believe in 2025, but back until 1980 - Better Homes & Gardens was cutting edge fashion & home decor.
Then around 1980, they moved the hq from NYC to Iowa & decided that frumpy was the way forward.....
Mugwumps_has_spoken@reddit
Well my dad is a retired mechanic by trade, and my Grandfather was an engineer. So my dad knew a lot, about a lot of home project topics.
davelevy@reddit
I thnk there are three things
1) Most mechanical items can be sussed out if you understand the basics. The switch to electronics nuked a lot of learning the basics as well as making some things an order of magnitude more difficult.
2) Books/Magazines/learning while watching was a core ability. There's a difference in learning to respect electricity or water when someone you love and admire is showing you vs someone who claims to be an expert on a small screen. And again it's easier when the basic principles are part of what you already know.
3) Resources that connect -- Knowing people who are confident enough to do the job, helps you feel confident to do the job. I have some wiring in my house where the bathroom GFI knocks out electricity to the room next to it and the circuit breakers are split between rooms. I never saw it done that way but when a friend who is an electrician had the same issues diagnosing that I was, it gave me a little more confidence to deal with the unexpected.
Whether its fixing a car, outdoor tools, lawn or anything else around the home knowing people who know what their doing makes it easier to believe in doing it yourself (and knowing that there are somethings you should really call someone else for).
For some it was being able to go to the hardware store and talk with someone who said they were the guy for the store. For some it was family. For some it's the neighbors in the circle who were doing what you wanted to do.
Just2Breathe@reddit
DIY handyman books were pretty great, I still have some. Better Homes & Gardens and others published a variety of books, from easy guides to handyman projects to specific techniques in painting or deck building. Magazines gave you repair tips, maintance schedules, and inspiration for home renovation and decorating projects.
One DIY book I grew up with had nice black & white drawings and step by step instructions. Another had color drawn illustrations. Photos were sometimes included, but made a book more pricey. My grandpa actually built his own house, so he passed along a lot of knowledge, and would visit sometimes to do projects (did not live nearby, though). My parents taught me things, and we did a ton of projects together. They were much more active than I am, I have to say. But I really like the modern video way, because it really captures techniques.
b_o_m@reddit
My father had a large set of 'Sunset' how-to books that covered everything you could imagine. Electrical, Plumbing, landscaping, etc. They had fantastic illustrations, I loved reading those books as a kid.
JuJu_Wirehead@reddit
My Grandfather was a farmer and he taught my father a ton of stuff. Nothing got thrown away on the farm unless it could no longer be repaired or repurposed. My father taught me and my sister. My dad also relied a lot on Fine Woodworking Magazine for carpentry projects. My dad taught me how to repair electronics, maintenance on cars, plumbing and carpentry... so I learned it from watching him
restingbitchface2021@reddit
My dad is a farmer. I live on the family farm. I was working on the house today and got stuck on something.
I thought to myself - what would dad do? MacGyver it.
cashewbiscuit@reddit
Back in the day, home improvement stores employed people who knew what they were doing. You could talk to them for advice.
Life_Transformed@reddit
There was a whole rack of books and magazines at the hardware store as I recall.
TravelerMSY@reddit
Books from the library. Episodes of this old house. But the main thing was to find someone in your life that knew and get them to show you.
It’s so much easier now .
Dru65535@reddit
My dad did a lot of projects around the house. Did a lot of them wrong, too. 😆
edasto42@reddit
I worked at Home Depot for years, and I was there during the time they hired people that were knowledgeable in the fields. It reminded me when I was a kid and my dad would go to the local Ace hardware and get advised
th1sisjnn@reddit
My dad who has had some construction experience (summers when he was a teacher) built, wired, plumbed, HVACed an entire house with the help of the Readers Digest Complete Do It Yourself manual
liz_lemongrab@reddit
To add to what others have said, I think there was also just more of a mindset of fixing things so they would last, and doing it yourself to save money before DIY was a hobby. Teenage boys took shop in high school and maybe auto repair if that was offered, or they would hang out with their buddies who knew how to fix cars. Things were made more simply then, and if you knew how to use basic tools and such, the skills were transferable from one type of work to another.
Jordangander@reddit
You learned from your parents by helping them do those projects. And sometimes you went to the store and you asked the person at the store.
MorningGlory439@reddit
My dad did so many home projects (and worked on the car), I don't know how he knew how to do so much, but he was very patient and persistent.
aogamerdude@reddit
This is almost not a genx question, anyway- people read a lot more before the internet as can be summed up from the comments, sure there were rare DIY projects that came with instructions, but even some people spoke with friendly contractors also.
Zueter@reddit
People went to hardware stores instead of Home Depot
Intrepid_Year3765@reddit
they used to sell books that had instructions on how to do literally everything
you can still find them in some libraries
docsiege@reddit
my dad had a few how to books on auto repairs, gardening, canning and food preservation, etc. he also was in the navy as a firefighter and repair guy, and stayed in the navy reserves. his mom wrote down or clipped everything important, from recipes to family genealogy to laundry and anything else covered under the broad home economics umbrella. we also went to the library a lot.
Long-Trade-9164@reddit
Ah the old days when one could hear the old man yell, "HOLD THE GDAM LIGHT STEADY!" Ah, all that knowledge good old dad passed on to me.
pixiefarm@reddit
Readers' Digest home repair books. Pretty mjch the same thing as the big orange home depot one that everyone had around 10 years ago
ThreeToedMartian@reddit
My paternal grandfather wasn't a fix-it guy, yet my dad could easily fix and build things. He got most of his knowledge through hard work. As a teenager he ran a printer and cutter at the Farmer's Almanac. In college and summers off (he was a high school teacher) he was a cannery foreman. Both jobs gave him a good education in machinery, logistics, and assembly.
I think part of the difference is things were made of high quality parts back then and weren't disposable. If your American-made appliance was on the fritz, and your dad/uncle/grandpa/grandma couldn't fix it, you called the repairman. You didn't throw it away and buy a new one like we do today.
TheSwedishEagle@reddit
My dad learned by watching others but he also bought books. Remember those?
Short-Obligation-704@reddit
Ace, Home Depot and Lowe’s all used to pay higher and the people that worked in sections really knew their shit, like they did it for years themselves. You could walk in with half a broken thing in your hands and they’d tell you what to get and what to do.
TheVampireDuchess@reddit
My Dad had a ton of how- to books he'd get from the hardware store or friends would come by and show him/do it together. He and my Mom also made a great team. They gutted and flipped two of the homes I grew up in.
kalelopaka@reddit
They just knew, read about, or figured it out. My dad was a very smart man who knew how to do so much. We even built a house for him in my teens from the ground up, then wired, plumbed, and finished the inside. Of course he had me working construction from age 11 for friends of his. But he taught me mechanics, and other things growing up.
Longracks@reddit
He learned from his Dad, and so own. I think things took longer and there was more trial and error (and frustration).
DrumsKing@reddit
My dad built a huge deck using just a book for reference.
MaximumJones@reddit
Because back then if they messed it up they would say "Just put some caulk in it, it will be alright."
cricket_bacon@reddit
Popular Mechanics ... as well as being taught from first hand experience by his father.
GypsyKaz1@reddit
My father still has piles and piles (not hoarder level piles, but still a lot) of the magazines for all this stuff.
Couldbeaccurate@reddit (OP)
Ah, now that you mention it, I seem to remember Hechs has books and magazines of fixing stuff/projects. I completely forgot about that.