MORE Baby Boomer Life Skills, That Are Useless Today

[@RecollectionRoad]

This is the second video I made on this topic. Here is a link to the first one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mISkfZdsoMp9hNE Let me know if you can think of any other skills that might be a thing of the past. Just to be clear, I do not think any of these are useless, although they might seem that way to newer generations.

[@nestahale8510]

Loved this! ❤ Such great memories of good times! Everything made sense back then, none of today’s nonsensical irrationality.

[@American-Motors-Corporation]

Yeah they're pretty much irrelevant!

[@starmnsixty1209]

I would like to see a 3rd installment. Noticed a number of suggestions in the general replies. General respect for each other is a "useless" thing we badly need back you could cover in general maybe?

[@donnabremerman1423]

Teletype operator--the original text message 😀

[@stevea2909]

I'm a retired Master Cabinetmaker/ Fine woodworker. No market for it.

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

Seriously… I prepare 2 complete meals a day 6 days a week… bake bread on Wednesday… So it looks like I’m an antique … I love my life…👨🏼‍🍳

[@starmnsixty1209]

👍👍 Society needs more antiques like you, joni....

[@Omar068]

@@beadyeye2312 My mother (1921-2004) always cooked and baked - from scratched. Her homemade bread was the best. She canned and made jam, I wasn’t overly thrilled picking berries for her jam and pies (apple butter was my least favorite). I would get in trouble when I tried to dip my finger in the paraffin before she poured it over her jams. I remember in the 70’s she complained about the stuff that was being put into some of the foods then. I don’t know how she did it, but all her meals were great and all ready for the table at the same time. We sat at the table, breakfast and supper, and tv was turned off.

[@lylecoglianese1645]

⁠@@beadyeye2312, 🎯 100% correct!! There are additives in almost every food item we purchase these days. It would be a tad less convenient, but a LOT healthier if we prepared our meals "from scratch". Using good healthy unprocessed ingredients. Have a great day! 🤔

[@meedwards5]

Actually, there are quite a few of us!❤

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

@@beadyeye2312 Beautiful share ….. my hubby and I married 47 years, no prescriptions, we deny ourselves, nothing ….we are happy, healthy and loving life… proper Food is the Body’s fuel… God Bless you beautiful one…🫶🏼

[@GrizzlyUrsusArctos]

Typing class made me a 100 wpm typist with 100% accuracy. I still use that skill in my job today 50 years later

[@roonboo96]

I agree; I learned to touch type, and at work, would often shudder when I saw the young kids doing the “search and destroy”method of typing. I’m not a 100 wpm typist, but I can certainly hold my own. I learned in high school in the 80s and it is the best “useless” skill I own!

[@gj8683]

Started learning QWERTY typing at age 13 way before it was a helpful skill for just about anyone at a computer keyboard. Thanks Mom for pushing me to do this.

[@Kevin-go2dw]

Did typing at school in 1974-5. One of only two male students in the class. I could only do about 40 wpm. Funny thing is every computer has a QWERTY keyboard so it is a very useful skill to be able to touch type.

[@chrisgraham2904]

Do any schools teach keyboard typing today? How many of the newer generation are able to "touch type" without looking at the keyboard? Our school typewriters had blank keys with no numbers, letters or symbols on them. I achieve a typing skill of 80 words per minute in high school. My mother achieve 160 words per minute and was skilled in Pittman Shorthand, having graduated from Pittman College in London, England. Are there any of today's generation that can type a 1,000 word essay into a WORD document in 6 minutes?

[@gj8683]

@@chrisgraham2904 I think it depends on how fast they can get ChatGPT to "write" the essay for them before they paste it into a Word document.

[@RiceaRoni354]

All those hand written recipes and cooking skills will never be replaced. They are timeless. Canning is bigger than ever!

[@oreally8605]

It sure is! If you can preserves and put dates on them in your pantry, during major snow storms ( which always will be ) you can sit inside warm and watching TV not worrying about having to run out in the storm to the grocery store. 😊

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

So true. just finished three bushels of Romas ….👨🏼‍🍳

[@kymburriss4260]

I have handwritten recipes from both grandmother's who would be over 100 yrs old. I still use them, and they are so very special. I still do some canning, but in much smaller quantities than I used to. It's valuable knowledge, and I'm passing it on to my daughter and granddaughter

[@Vid7872]

Yes, and now chefs are pushing us to use the metric system which requires equipment and you can't memorize. Prior to WW2, few wrote down recipes. Many women were illiterate. Everything was a cup, a handful, and a little bit of that to taste.

[@karenkoroscil9568]

I still have all my recipes!

[@roncaruso931]

There are some baby boomer life skills that will never become useless as long as baby boomers are alive. They are common sense and respect. Respect for the law and each other.

[@ursulasmith6402]

It is gone already.

[@jhdholiday7253]

I am gen x. And thankfully I have a boomer teaching me how to can food and make things to can.

[@jasonrodgers9063]

Hey, I have a plastic recipe box full of hand-written 3x5 cards! So special to see my beloved late wife's handwriting, and the random smudges. Echoes of her love for us.💔

[@janeflip1]

You can tell which recipes I made out of my red Betty Crocker Cookbook by the spills on each page!

[@rustynails8756]

It's a special treat to pull out family recipes hand written almost 100 years ago. I will still use my grandmother's recipes. When I see the writing it reminds me of the person who wrote it.

[@cheryldodd-marko9787]

We are loosing our past.....🕊🇺🇲💕

[@candaceroberts3238]

@@rustynails8756 What love you have for your wife, love goes beyond death. You’re a special guy.

[@carrot1977]

I have a small, black handpainted-with-flowers box that has recipes from both grandmother's, and my mom. I still use those recipes

[@madcat528]

There is no such thing as a useless skill. Anything you've learned is valuable.

[@jimvalentine2814]

Very well said madcat, pointed and direct.

[@oreally8605]

Absolutely 💯

[@kyzor-sosay6087]

Well said.

[@scotthullinger4684]

Uh, no. NO. There are PLENTY of "skills" which are indeed QUITE useless.

[@markbonner1139]

​@@scotthullinger4684 👾TROLL👾

[@samuelschick8813]

Best cooking I ever had? That would be my great grandmother ( 1891- 1979) on dad's side. Mamaw only cooked and baked on cast iron skillets and pans, on a cast iron wood burning stove. Everything made from scratch. The stove also kept her small house warm from one end to the other in winter. She always wore an apron that had pockets and there was always candy in those pockets for grandchildren. To this day I can still draw the layout of her house and the comforting smell within.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

My great grandmother also cooked well and did that stuff too. She was very sweet. Unfortunately she passed when I was 7. She was very energetic for someone her age. My grandmother said she could hardly keep up with her at the store! 😂

[@samuelschick8813]

@@Mick_Ts_Chick, My grandmother told me about her mother in my OP. Said she was married to a farmer and helped in the field even when pregnant with my grandmother and her brother. When she went into labor, she went back to the cabin, gave birth, tended the baby and was right back in the field working. She would sit the baby on the porch so she could hear it cry and was always in sight. That was one tough woman.

[@markbonner1139]

​@@samuelschick8813 THAT was "normal"!!

[@malcolmbrewis5582]

What a beautiful and evocative recollection of the times where People and the Family were still considered Paramount. Arriving home from school, particularly on a cold day, to be welcomed by the aromatic mixture of Onions, Meat, Spices and Fat from home cooking was certainly unforgettable to this young boy.

[@tonycollazorappo]

I enjoyed how everything took time. So laid back and people were friendlier. I miss those days; I was born in 1961.

[@rv6205]

soooooo very sad what its all turned into

[@SK-nd7db]

I really miss it, too ! I was born in 1954!

[@starmnsixty1209]

I hear you, friend. What's happened to people simply feeling a touch of friendship for others? It's sad that such no longer is the case.

[@rv6205]

@@starmnsixty1209 what year do you think it all started to change ...i say 1990 started the downward slide

[@misslora3896]

​@rv6205 100% That's when the buyout of our hospitals, medical system, farms, food production and everything else began. Everything owned under the mega multinational umbrella Corp's Blackrock and Vanguard. Next, though all entertainment and media has been used to influence society for numerous decades, music in particular has been used by a certain 3 letter agency since at least the 60's to influence the youth. However, 1990 saw a huge change with the introduction of "gangster rap"... we can see the destructive effects of almost 35 years of it's influence on the thoughts, beliefs and behaviors on the Generations after Gen X. The 90's also brought the internet, which seemed like a wonderful marvel, until the advent of smart phones and social media becoming a thing in 2008. With a near 24/7 presence in most people's lives, it's influenced thoughts, beliefs, opinions and behavior at an unprecedented scale and speed. What makes it all worse is that none of it has happened organically, by chance or is in any way coincidental... it's all been 100% deliberate. Anthropologist Robert Sepehr has a lot of great videos on his YT channel, but 2 in particular cover music. One is about that 3 letter agencies involvement and production studios in Laurel Canyon, LA during the 60's. The other is about the development and push of the hard/gangster rap that began in 90.

[@OldCanadianguy953]

There are still many of these activities which I and others I know still do. Cooking from scratch without a microwave, food preservation, changing my own oil, film photography, keeping recipe cards, etc.... Young people today are poorer for not knowing how to do these things.

[@lawyer1165]

I wonder how people, especially younger people, will react if the Internet ever goes down for a week or more.

[@starmnsixty1209]

They would run about helplessly, shrieking for aid that's probably not going to arrive.

[@InsertAUserNameHere]

Or forever

[@KateinLB]

I think It’s called “The Zombie Apocalypse” … slow walking, staring down at blank screens 😅

[@DamitFeelsGoodtobeaRaider]

they'd get robbed for everything they have. including the clothes on their back.

[@donl1846]

They would act like "airheads"..............

[@nongthip]

Born in the early 60s, I have countless memories about my mom cooking dinner while us kids set the table or maybe helped with prep work (or watched Gilligan's Island or Leave it to Beaver reruns on TV) until almost precisely at 6pm my mom would call for everyone to come and eat, sitting down at the family dining table. It meant we sat together as a family once a day for about an hour, even leading to discussions that lasted well into the evening. I often tell my mom, now 89, how much I valued that effort she made every day and how precious some of the memories are even now. Also it meant we ate mostly healthy food made from scratch, and she often taught us how to do it ourselves. Now of course I don't think families do that very much. Convenience, laziness, internet, social media, phone addiction, and short attention spans mean more people just open a plastic package with some heavily processed fake garbage inside and maybe nuke it for 60 seconds and eat it alone. That, my friends, is *very sad* . Anyway - THANKS MOM!

[@ak5659]

Last year Boomer here. I was raised on too much food from scratch. I just don't like the taste of processed fkod.

[@polarbear353]

I agree with everything you said and processed food today is poisoning people and probably shortening lifespans.

[@fredziffle447]

after mom recently died, these videos meen even more to me. Memories sure fade quickly but these videos with the warm calm voice are a treasure

[@Steven-kr2ti]

Sorry for your loss

[@coldsamon]

Write those memories down. Writing helps me not to forget the good times 😊

[@paulf4802]

You know what is useless in the real world today? Facebook, social media and video games.

[@user-hx7mi7ml8u]

Really? You’re on “social media,” now. 🙄 Why are you, if you think it’s “useless?” You’re “socially” communicating on KZbin. Facebook is about the same thing except for you can be “friends” with people you haven’t seen in years or family members. You couldn’t do that without the invention of “social media” or watch this video either. 😐

[@markbonner1139]

​@@user-hx7mi7ml8u Well said!! nobody & nothing's perfect

[@89playstation65]

Video games as a skill to those who care about video games. I only play video games to have fun and have down time. Other people play video games to compete.

[@jademusic1211]

​@@user-hx7mi7ml8uIt's useless in that it isn't necessary to be on social media.🙄 That doesn't mean lots of people don't do unnecessary things.

[@carrot1977]

Social media is how I keep up with family and friends, as my schedule doesn't align with everyone else's schedule- I work overnights, and most everyone else works days. It is a godsend to me a lot of the time, so it isn't useless to me for that reason. For some, yeah, it is, but not for everyone.

[@rv6205]

what a sad world it has turned into.....i wish i could go back to the 60s and 70s...

[@tomheater6149]

Lets hope it's short lived, and improves.

[@starmnsixty1209]

You're hardly alone, rv.

[@starmnsixty1209]

So do many of us.

[@JTA1961]

Every 3rd person was a russian spy

[@Luke-hs3bf]

My older sister took shorthand. It was pretty cool to watch here practice. I never took that class. But my regular writing is now starting to look like shorthand👍☺️

[@Omar068]

I did not take shorthand, did not think I would need it. It sure would have helped taking notes in class, esp college.

[@crismcdonough2804]

I still use the brief forms when writing notes to myself

[@marvahoeckelman2539]

I enjoyed knowing shorthand because no one in college could skip class and then borrow my notes. Alas across time I have lost it.

[@dad4ever-c90]

We used to take PRIDE in everything we did, not just our paying job. From preparing meals to house & yard work to basic auto maintenance. Now people have robotic vacuums. They use smart ovens, whose ads even brag you don't have to do anything. And even if they are physically able, they pay others to buy their groceries and mow their lawn. Then they complain they have no money saved. How did we do it? Did we have more than 24 hours in our days?!?

[@oreally8605]

You're so right. That's just good living. God told man to work with his hands before the fall.

[@CraftyZanTub]

In 'your' day, you didn't need four jobs per couple to keep a roof overhead.

[@gregggoss2210]

Yes sir. When I was a young man, I did about 80% of my own auto repairs. I even replaced my water pump on my 1970 Monte Carlo on the shoulder of the interstate. And I'm still alive to talk about it. At least I think I am😮.

[@adorabledeplorable5105]

Not sleeping more than eight hours helped .

[@superman9772]

@@CraftyZanTub the lifestyle of that day was a lot different... there wasn't the expectations and thought that one "deserves" a lifestyle... the words of Kennedy were very felt and strong in our hearts "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". .. and yes, having many jobs was typical in that day... and the roof usually leaked back in that day as well... though we were angry with the government (much like today), we were very proud of our country and our communities... and even president nixon was able to sit down within the thousands of angry hippy war protesters in the d.c. mall late at night and discuss their wants , needs and dreams for the future... we miss those days

[@ravennightwatch1846]

I'm a Gen-X (52) and I can remember doing a lot of these thing growing up. I miss those time because of the fond memories of that time. Everything seemed simpler.

[@lisawicks8205]

I was just about to say some of these things aren’t exclusive the baby boomers

[@sherylkeib4993]

Yes, life was simpler

[@gusmonster59]

Life is a s simple as you choose to make it. People still can, hang out laundry, live without being on their computers or phones all the time. You make that choice.

[@charlesgall7829]

Thank you ! Just had a talk with an old time friend (since 1960!) about how my family ordered a new 1964 Ford Galaxy in August 1963. Sat down with the salesman,and after studying all the colors and options , we spent maybe 2 hrs ordering the exact car , made especially for us. I couldn't wait to see that car in real life. It came in Nov of '63 ,just before Thanksgiving. That taught me how special patience was. Why I still have a vivid memory of it today. Kids are missing out on so much. And no way to change it, very sad.

[@mrjuvy49]

Probably because of the killing of JFK that week, the sweet and sour of our youth.

[@JeffSproul]

I remember my parent ordering a 62 Chevy II 300 4 door in Sept 61 with red exterior and interior with Powerglide and an AM radio. Chevy II was all new for 62 and it was a 2nd car for my father to commute to work. We took delivery in November 61 before Thanksgiving. It was a special thing to get a new car and to order it the way you wanted. You would even show your car to your neighbors and they would do likewise.

[@mrjuvy49]

Yes and you could pay them off in 3 years.

[@JeffSproul]

@@beadyeye2312 My Great Great Uncle had a 62 Rambler American.

[@goodmeasure777]

"Let your fingers do the walking, it's a snap" Yellow Pages. Blast from the past.

[@georgiafrye2815]

No more phone books and no numbers.

[@chariwater1]

It’s funny how we know how to make a meal out of what we have rather than take out. 😊

[@diannelavoie5385]

I do regular "clean out the fridge" nights. Always can get together enough for a meal.

[@vindivergilio3482]

One skill people still need today is canning. With the prices of food going thru the roof, it is still good to know how to do it properly!

[@ITIsFunnyDamnIT]

Really, i never eat out anymore because it's too expensive and groceries are too expensive. So anything you can do to make your buck stretch is a good skill to have. An canning the food you can yourself taste better than any canned food you'd get from the grocery store. I'm glad i grew up when i did and know how to cook and can food.

[@MNkno]

.. and canning is a skill; get it wrong and you can suffer serious food poisoning!

[@sandyjohnson5111]

Even if you don’t can, having canning jars are a good investment. I cut up my produce and put in a canning jar with a paper towel at the bottom. You can buy can sealers you place on top of the jar and it sucks out the oxygen. It keeps produce fresh for two + weeks. Foods too expensive to waste.

[@edn7651]

Cooking a meal is a "Useless Life Skill"? It certainly was in full force when we were stuck inside for a year!

[@garywagner2466]

Very few younger people have those skills or the equipment to cook for themselves. Some apartments are now being built without a kitchen at all. That’s what food delivery services did to the Lazy Generation.

[@1805movie]

More and more long term studies have confirmed that writing long hand improves memory and critical thinking skills. So, I think it's safe to say that abandoning these kinds of practices is a detriment, even if it's "convenient".

[@dod2304]

I just read that schools are starting to accept the research and are starting to teach cursive again. Finally!

[@JF-ym8gm]

This is good news.

[@BradThePitts]

a BOOMER knows how to get HOME if their cell phone battery dies. 😂

[@fillmorehillmore8239]

And still trying to put a laserdisc into their VHS while flashing 12:00.

[@angelanapier4248]

Lots of people can veggies and fruit today. We still use our family recipe cards, hang laundry out to dry. Lots of things are returning to the old ways, homesteading, home schooling, cook from scratch, things like that.

[@joerichardwad1645]

Most people weren’t sending faxes on a regular basis until the mid to late 80s. Definitely not in the same category as “washing clothes by hand” 😂

[@rebeccalynn7795]

i don't know of anyone who washed clothes like shown in this video at least not boomers lol. guess their parents might have.

[@lovly2cu725]

I sent taxes in the late 70s it was like a roller that you fitted the paper in a slot

[@superman9772]

@@rebeccalynn7795 yeah... most everyone had the old crank washers that you'd put in a tub... it'd swirl the clothes around in the soapy water and then you usually had a roller wringer to squeeze the water out of the clothes ... and then in the 50s most everyone had the crank washers with electric motors doing the cranking for you and it would spin the clothes dry as well... and then it was a short time then to "automatic cycle" electric washing machines...

[@charles-y2z6c]

@@rebeccalynn7795 my grandmother did. This was in the 60's. We had a washing machine and I wondered how it worked

[@blakemrolfsensanchez547]

I have washed clothes by hand if the washer was broken or if i didn't have one

[@KateinLB]

I’m just past this era (born 1965) but clearly remember my mom and grandmothers baking, recipes on cards mom still has, canned fresh peaches, and I swear I smelled the yellow pages when it came up! Thank you for the memories

[@ES-mc3cc]

When the grid goes down, boomers will be okay. We remember how to live simply and without all the gadgets. When I was a kid, the power went out just about every time there was a thunderstorm, and we never knew how long it would be before it came back on.

[@diannelavoie5385]

@@beadyeye2312 I have a gas stove. Ignition won't work when power goes out, but it can be lit with a match. Got an electric one? Oh, well. I can also use the BBQ grill.

[@ITIsFunnyDamnIT]

I live in Florida. I don't even like to think about being without power, too hot and humid here even at night. I mean sure I'll survive, but it really sucks when the power goes out

[@MNkno]

I remember power outages. And in natural disasters, the grid can go down again. I think I'd like to sleep off the adjustment period for those addicted to their phones and PCs, then get out paper and pencil and start making inventories and timeline plans..

[@eehardcast4672]

Paper maps work

[@MiBones]

@@diannelavoie5385 Congratulations. You have a modern gas stove. Mine still has pilot lights. Dual purpose. Defrosting food and lighting the burners to cook it.

[@oreally8605]

Technology changes, but kindness, courtesy, respect, being able to read and do basic math and home ed skills will always be. And smart people still jar and can homemade preserves.

[@starmnsixty1209]

You hit the proverbial nail on the head --"smart people." I can't speak for Europe, etc., but in the 🇺🇲 , the "dumbing down" is well-advanced my friends.

[@SpotTheBorgCat]

The fact that things took time to make and do, made people appreciate the effort more. Today, so much ingratitude. My favorite memory is getting off the school bus in time to smell home made bread coming out of my babysitter's oven! MANNA from HEAVEN!!

[@footballlvnlady]

I have a recipe box up in my cupboard from the early 80’s. I have recipes from my mom, MIL and coworkers I used to work with. I have to get it down to make chili I haven’t in years. My mom had wallpaper in every room in our house. She did interior decorating so each room had a theme. My mom learned shorthand and typing in high school. The shorthand helped her get jobs all the way into the 90’s. I did typing and I was fast at it which helped me later with data entry. I am grateful that growing up my mom and grandma’s made homemade dinners for holidays. My sister and daughter do now. I did years ago but I enjoy their meals now. My mom made the best dressing and potato salad. At Thanksgiving and Christmas we might make stovetop dressing because it is easier and my mom is passed away. She had a meat grinder she hooked onto the bread board. She grinder up all the ingredients for the dressing.

[@seregrian5675]

Always a treat to be reminded of how things used to be done. Are typing classes and Home Ec even done anymore? And you want to talk about "rites of passage"? The Drive-in Theater was family entertainment for the whole community. Milk bottles, brought by truck and local delivery - and taking them back for deposits. Newspapers - combing through the want ads for job openings, and the classified ads where people might send veiled messages...

[@loriloristuff]

Kids learn to type in kindergarten or before. They gradually learn to operate the margins and how to format within the software.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

Home EC is being brought back but it's very different as what folks will use are also different. Boys as well as girls are allowed and encouraged to go Home EC too! Many will be doing their own thing while still young (or at college) and Mom can't drive 1,000 miles to clean your house and do laundry every week!😊

[@dod2304]

@@loriloristuff though they call it "keyboarding" now as there aren't any typewriters. 😜 That's fine, but it bothers me how few young people know cursive. I just read that schools are finally accepting the research about how much better writing in cursive is for your brain. Even better than printing, so schools are starting to teach it again. Hallelujah!

[@dod2304]

@@nancyholcombe8030 I'm all for that. Boys should have access to it. The kids have so much to learn for the endless testing. Teachers have to teach with the state testing in mind because they, in turn, are evaluated based on how well their students do. It's ridiculous. Children do NOT learn best that way. And they don't spend enough time, if any, on keeping a budget and the real cost of every day things. Young people often assume they'll just make enough money to pay the bills, but of course it's so much more than that. Too many parents bail their kids out at the first sign of a shortage. I understand there are emergencies, but if they know you'll bail them out, they'll spend money on their "wants" and not their "needs" and know you'll be there with the checkbook

[@starmnsixty1209]

​@@dod2304Hope you're right...but how many of today's children are capable of learning it!? I mean, they can't even read an analog clock 😢

[@carolannmiller7911]

How I miss how life was and communities too! More people were caring, hard working and considerate of others.

[@APR1037]

I remember those recipe cards. Grandma had quite the collection and they often carried the food stains of whatever she was preparing. Sunday and holiday meal prep was a team effort and the extended family, which lived close by, always got together. I miss those days. We knew how to find things on a map, how to actually write letters, and many other skills. Those skills are far from being useless. If electronics fail, I still know how to do things “the old way.”

[@mikeywid4954]

Mom didn't use a washboard but she did always hang the laundry on a clothesline outdoors. Oh to go back to those simpler times. ca: 50s and early 60s.

[@dod2304]

I moved into my house built in 1927 fourteen years ago. I was thrilled there was a clothesline in the yard and hang out my wash every time I can. Especially the sheets! Towels really do better in a dryer, unless you enjoy a nice bracing skin exfoliation when you dry yourself! lol

[@starmnsixty1209]

Anyone recall the older washing machines with the ringing-out rollers on top? Or those circular clothes lines that spun in the breeze?

[@Omar068]

@@dod2304 And how the laundry smelled after hanging outside.

[@glennso47]

My mom used a wringer washer. She did hang the clothes on a clothes line.

[@glennso47]

@@starmnsixty1209my poor hands remember the wringer washer. They got caught in the wringer a couple times. 😢

[@brettany_renee_blatchley]

Wonderful memories here! Dad taught mom how to cook, and they taught all of us kids. (They also taught us all how to change oil & rotate tires!) Line-dried clothes were sweet! And I loved _reading_ the dictionary on the way to finding the word I needed! As a high schooler, I was proud of my sliderule, AND I saved my odd-jobs earnings to buy one of the early scientific calculators. As a young adult I was big into photography, developed my own film, and printed my own photos (I got most of my equipment from pawn shops).

[@dod2304]

You must've developed a lot of pride and self confidence because of these skills. Bravo!

[@brettany_renee_blatchley]

@@dod2304 , they've gotten us far! We're all entering our senior years now. 😊💜

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

My daddy and granddaddy grew up on a dairy farm. We always had a nice big garden when I was growing up. Man I miss that corn, green beans, fried okra, tomatoes, etc. My granny and mom always canned stuff from our garden. 😊

[@diannemose244]

Yes okra I can't find it fresh in any store

[@Rickettsia505]

Try the middle eastern ones.

[@commonsense126]

I remember that my brother was important because he was s boy. He did not have to help with any daily chores. I remember being a second class citizen because I was a girl. My nostalgia is very different.

[@mikelouis9389]

Try being a stepchild in the sixties. I had to lie about my staph infection saying it was non infectious or daddy dearest would have had me placed in some sort of sanitarium to keep me from infecting his kids. There both unalive, I'm not, I win.

[@Calibeachgtl1024]

Who hated jeans that were soo hard after they dried on the clothesline???

[@lovly2cu725]

And no spandex

[@nancysullivan6827]

I was enthralled at a neighbors dryer. We had new washing machines but no dryer. She could wash and dry her jeans which would be soft in a few hours and wear that same day. Mom bought one soon after.

[@garywagner2466]

They were hard because jeans were made with heavy denim and were not pre-washed. Jeans eventually got broken in, but they lasted for years. For fun, try to imagine what your mother or grandmother would say about today’s “distressed jeans” with huge gaping holes or grizzly slashes. Would you have been allowed out of the house looking like you’d been mauled by a cougar? Would you pay $1200 for already shredded jeans?

[@chanchan5349]

@@garywagner2466we didn’t wear “dungaree’s” in public places! Farming or other work was the only time it was acceptable (females). She’d say you wasted some $$$. Course, so would I!

[@tabilittlefield1326]

I really didn't mind it. The tough material protected my legs from cuts and scrapes while working hard on our farm.

[@Sk8Bettty]

I’m GenX. I have my granny’s recipe box & I cook from scratch. ❤

[@berniecelee5062]

Oh this was nice reading that you do cook using your granny ‘ s recipes and that you cook from scratch ! It’s a lost art. I am home cook and I have expanded my cooking binder from 1 to 3. I am trying to capture old recipes that came from people who were born 1900- 1970. Those were simple and delicious comfort meals that many people in Gen Y and Z haven’t tasted.

[@debanydoombringer1385]

Same. Gen X as well. Most of us did do a lot of the cooking growing up to be fair.

[@GeckoHiker]

I'm a boomer who still works in IT in my 70s. I digitized the family recipes in the 1980s. I was working on OCR projects at the time. Digitizing handwriting was a challenge which I accepted. I still have the code. I think all my hard won life skills have aged well. I still have a firm footing in the agricultural and culinary practices of the last four centuries. Foraging and campfire cooking is bred into my DNA. I worry a little about the younger generations who lost these important skills.

[@tomf429]

Shining shoes, raking and burning leaves, putting in the storm windows in fall, screens in spring, putting on snow tires and wheel chains, beating rugs outside, hanging clothes on the line, washing dishes by hand, making coffee in a percolator on the stove, lighting the oven with a wood kitchen match, calling time on the telephone, calling weather on the telephone, waxing the kitchen floor, cleaning out the car with a whisk broom, shaking the milk to mix up the cream, defrosting the refrigerator, banking a coal stove for the night, adjusting the roof antenna…to name a few.

[@debanydoombringer1385]

People still use snow tires and chains. Beat rugs, burn leaves, rake, wash dishes by hand, and our first home had waxed hardwood floors.

[@mattm1686]

tech has killed so many things

[@cdfreester]

I remember my mother's metal box of 3x5 recipe cards. My oldest cousin came across a bunch of recipes from the women in our respective families, photocopied, and bound them in a small spiral book. I am so thankful he did that. We still make my mom's merry-mellow fudgie cookies every Christmas season.

[@nongthip]

I still hang our laundry on an outdoor line/rack to dry in the sun. It uses zero electricity and comes out sweet smelling and natural feeling. Warm air tumble driers are for convenience or people who live in rainy parts of the world. I still enjoy the whole hands-on process of washing, rinsing, softening, spinning, hanging, and folding our clothes.

[@dustybunny6716]

We used to do that till we found out the place we lived in had lots of pollen in the air. And small critters too. Florida weather sucks.

[@marycrawford9428]

The original solar powered dryer. I have one too.

[@janiesippel225]

No life skill is ever useless. And I still use my recipe cards from my mom, grandmother and mother in law. I prefer a hard copy cookbook as opposed to on line recipes.

[@thomasott5899]

A written recipe also doesn’t have the annoying ads and clickbait

[@lindaangus2307]

Typing is not a useless skill.

[@robertewalt7789]

Grade school students are taught to key info into computers, the same as typing.

[@gregggoss2210]

Good gravy, how I miss the phone book. Every time I want to look for a specific contractor, I miss the yellow pages. I still make my own jam every growing season.

[@Omar068]

My mom cooked and baked all from scratch. She canned and made jams. My dad would take me berry picking for my mom’s pies and jams. Apple butter was my least favorite.

[@gregggoss2210]

@@Omar068 , that's awesome. My mom also baked all her own cake,pies, and cookies. Dad taught me how to do the jams and berry picking. I learned to cook from watching both my parents in the kitchen.

[@goodoakpress]

Some of us still prepare our mother's recipes. Nothing was better than Mom's home cooking.

[@glennso47]

Except it doesn’t taste as good as what mom used to make.

[@goodoakpress]

@@glennso47 Sometimes finding the same ingredients can be a little tricky, but I can come pretty close.

[@MNkno]

Although to be honest, it depends on who your Mom was. Some were better at cooking than others. Mine approached cooking like a science chemistry project. My grandmother, on the other hand, was a magician who could give us all "melt-in-your-mouth" happiness with fresh produce skillfully prepared and seasoned well and subtly. Nutmeg in the carrots in cream, for example.

[@goodoakpress]

@@MNkno my Mom was a good cook. My dad, and my two siblings, could open the refrigerator, pull out a bunch of leftovers, and create something magnificent. That gene, however, completely passed me by. I'm a really good cook as long as I have a printed recipe in front of me, but if I try to create something from nothing what comes out is so bad that the dog would probably give me a dirty look.

[@adorabledeplorable5105]

My wife always cooks from scratch . Also when we first married ( 1980 ) after the first week I bought a washer and dryer .

[@r.d.493]

Gen Y here: My dad and stepmom had a clothesline in their backyard for years and there was something very relaxing and almost beautiful about pinning your laundry to clotheslines and letting it flap in the breeze and sunshine. I never cared for the hardness or roughness of sun-dried clothes, but even today I find that I wish I could hang my wet laundry on a clothesline just for a few minutes so that I wouldn't have to over-use my dryer. And while I don't spend a lot of time cooking, I find that I would love to make more dishes from old cookbooks. There is an undeniable hominess and charm to them that is lacking from so many today.

[@markbonner1139]

What's stopping ya? I know---that nasty little 4 letter word---WORK!!

[@marycrawford9428]

Dry your stuff on the line, then bounce them in the dryer for five minutes to soften them up. No heat needed.

[@jerrystaley1563]

Seems to me a lot of these Baby Boomer skills aren't "useless" as they taught values, preparation and patience. Things that seem to be lost in today's society.

[@ndean1687]

TRUTH!

[@diannelavoie5385]

Patience! Seems like everyone wants instant gratification. They even get mad if they have to wait anywhere for a few minutes.

[@mybrainhurts2213]

If the grid were to go down for whatever reason which isn’t so far fetched these days these “Useless” skills will become necessities.

[@petuniasevan]

Keypunch. Running a home or classroom film projector. Using a mimeograph machine. Memorizing phone numbers. Using street maps. Keeping index card files of: A. Recipes. B. Newspaper clippings. C. S&H Green Stamps or Blue Chip Stamps. Adjusting the carburetor for high altitudes during vacation trip. Putting out conveniences (ashtrays, matches, pipe cleaners, etc) for smokers visiting your home. (I'm a tag end Boomer, born in 1963 and these are a few off the top of my head, before I watch the video).

[@vlrissolo]

The recipe box is full of recipes from friends and family. Can't be found online or in cookbooks. Priceless

[@anthonychihuahua]

Of all the books that I've tossed over the years, my pocket dictionary and thesaurus are still somewhere within my house, lol! I remember discovering and using new words as I would flip through the dictionary finding the word I was looking for.

[@margaretkur8161]

I still have my grandfather's dictionary (he passed in 1965 and it was old then). It's amazing to see how the spelling and usage of words have changed.

[@anthonychihuahua]

That's amazing, Margaret! I imagine it's a sturdy, thick, hardcover copy of a dictionary, of which, you just don't see anymore outside of a library! Blessed be to you and yours 🙏

[@rdhawke]

I would actually read the big fat dictionary we had, even when I wasn’t looking up a particular word. I just picked a spot on the page edge and then “Open Sesame!”😃👍🏻

[@anthonychihuahua]

@@rdhawke ..don't think you can do that with a dictionary on the cellphone, lol!

[@ITIsFunnyDamnIT]

I still have and use recipe cards from our recipe box that were handed down from my grandma that my mom made when we were growing up. there's something awesome about making something from scratch and it comes out good. A sense of pride when something taste really good and you know you did it all from scratch. I took home economics in junior high and am glad i know how to cook. Cooking is a good skill to have, so is canning.

[@laural5177]

I still have a recipe box and still use them. I have cookbooks that I have manually added or deleted ingredients. I've heard my kids arguing who gets my recipes when I go. I love that they like my cooking but geeez.

[@Kevin-yh9yt]

I cant believe the fax machine is listed on the same video as hand-washing clothing! I feel like the fax machine is still relevant, and some government offices still request a fax.

[@elizabethharalson7903]

The medical industry still uses fax

[@drcovell]

“Useless” is in the eye of the beholder.

[@chargermopar]

It is amazing how many of those skills I use to this day. They are not all obsolete!

[@blakemrolfsensanchez547]

For me the 80's and 90's were the best. We had to do all of those things back then too. People who are born in 2000 will never understand the hard work or know what childhood is like.

[@ndean1687]

I was thinking that whomever made this video must be a Gen Yer (Millenial) or a Gen Zer.

[@GORDO3896]

I get recipes from the internet, but I still write my favorites onto 3X5 cards and have a darling recipe box.

[@valkyrie1066]

I took photography in college. Turned my closet into a darkroom. Utterly useless the MOMENT digital cameras came out.

[@bobareeniobobareenio2935]

My sister and I still have our Mom’s recipe book. Fun to see the recipes, remember those dishes AND to see her handwriting. . . 😢

[@Dorthy-wx9fq]

I have a recipe box that belonged to my mom and grandmother, I also have my own box. I use them once in a while.

[@scottieehopkins9857]

I loved typing class, sewing and cooking classes! So much fun!

[@wcguthrie]

Building a fire in your fireplace, shining your shoes, operating a carpet sweeper

[@Markimark151]

35mm film photography is making a comeback, there’s people trying to learn how to use film! Also you forgot to mention that older film cameras required weird flashbulbs, the ones made before electronic flash that need to be swapped out after each snapshot! Thankfully film cameras are getting better and easier to use for newcomers to film photography!

[@pslm23]

I still have dozens of recipe cards my mom handwrote from her favorite KZbin cooking channels ❤

[@barrytipton1249]

I'm going to respectfully disagree that cooking and canning are useless skills today. There are replacements for many people, but not all of us use or can afford DoorDash to eat these days.

[@glennso47]

Plus you don’t know when stores will run out of groceries and you will need to home can your food.

[@beelmars5400]

Agree with you. Most of the things listed here aren't skills. (ex. a Fax machine is not a skill, just a technology) The ones that are skills are not useless. Even shorthand can still be useful in many situations.

[@GrizzlyUrsusArctos]

They should teach life skills now. Especially handling money

[@kentwalker6456]

Thanks for another great video and for including slide rules. Also apparently lost is the ability to "count back change"

[@marthadopkowski8311]

I have taught both of my grandkids how to count back change... if for no other reason than to make certain that they were given correct change back from a cashier!

[@sandovalperry2895]

Map reading is a lost skill making a comeback. The military started to realize that the GPS satellites could be jammed, you don’t want your troops lost in the woods.

[@roblloyd1879]

Usually use satnav, but always have maps in the car to see the greater picture'

[@d.kennedy7627]

Not useless during a power outage or preparing papers in university or self entertainment or possessing useful hidden talents.

[@RickHenkle]

Best meals I remember as a child in the 60's,, Fried Chicken, only Grandma would tell me to go find 3 young roasters and bring em to her.. Had a 2x4 and she would lay that roaster down and put it on its head, foot on the board, and Pull of the head, toss it away so it could bleed out, then it into that big ol pot of boiling water, to loosen the feathers,, yea, it smelled some,, but when it was all done, that was the Best fried chicken ever!! Mashed taters out of the garden, corn on the cob outta the field!! and always homemade biscuits!! oh, and Gravy,, Always had gravy!!! That was our Sunday dinner!!! God almighty, I miss that!!

[@gulfgypsy]

"Let your fingers do the walking' -- That slogan became really popular during the gas crisis of the 70's. When I was in school they offered PBX and data punch classes - those along with shorthand and typing were popular with girls because you could get a good entry level job soon as you left school and guys often too auto shop, wood shop and metal shop and from there either get a job or join a trade union.

[@glennso47]

And nowadays if your EV doesn’t work.

[@glennso47]

Typing came in handy when I had to join the navy in the 60s . They assigned me to be a Storekeeper and I had to be able to type a certain WPM in order to advance in my career. 😊Along with the other tests.

[@peggynulsen1365]

I loved my slide rule. Even though some electric calculators were available in the early 1970's, most undergrad classes in college did not allow their use in exams....slide rule only. You had to be proficient and know the equations in order to get all the problems answered in time. Good for the brain!!

[@margaretkur8161]

I'm 69 and still have my slide rule from high school! (Why?) I can't remember how to use it at all. LOL

[@peggynulsen1365]

@@margaretkur8161 hey Margaret, same here.....in my office drawer, somewhere. And bet I couldn't remember how to use it either without a KZbin tutorial video.

[@johndemeen5575]

Having skills, is not useless. St.Paul,Minnesota.

[@Optim40]

The title should be. Things we did back then but don't use or do anymore....something a little more respectful. You get what Im saying ??

[@lmb1962]

Agreed. I still use my skills I learned back then at home and home ec. I have mom's index cards with the most delicious recipes. Typing class is what got me into court reporting school. I finally retired last year. That skill got me a great career as a court stenographer for 41 years.

[@denisseament]

#FACTS​@@lmb1962

[@garywagner2466]

The average twenty year old would disagree. They see all of us as useless, and responsible for all of the perceived problems of the world. What were you saying about “respectful?”

[@lmb1962]

@@garywagner2466 I know, right? They think everything was handed to us. Nothing could be further from the truth. My parents gave me everything I needed but certainly not everything I wanted. We grew up with the freedom that the 20 year olds of today will never know, but that also came with responsibilities. Funny thing is, I never blamed my parents' generation for anything. I believe that started with the Millenials. Can't wait for that trend to stop. Guess they think we're going to feel guilty and apologize. They're going to wait a long time.

[@FernandoL75314]

@@lmb1962, from your handle, I presume that you were born in 1962, when I was 8 years. Two years later, in 1964, the U. C Berkeley New Left activist Jack Weinberg, coined the famous 60’s “Youth Counterculture” slogan, “Don’t Trust Anybody Over 30”. I repeatedly heard that slogan throughout my elementary school and high school years. By his own standards, Jack Weinberg could no longer be “trusted” when I was 16. He is still alive, at age 84. The delusion of ignorantly believing that “all the World’s problems” began when their own parents were born, is a psychological characteristic of 20-Something adults-in-name only without any accomplishments or life experience, who are living off of the financial resources of Dad and Mom. The phenomenon began long before the first Millennial was ever conceived.

[@joshuabrande2417]

we didn't need passwords or codes, have to accept cookies, and jump through a lot of security protocols just to use an app or advance on a website. Things were more straight forward and direct.

[@amyharrell251]

I was born in the late 50s and we know how to fix things and how to think and be creative and we stack food and other things to survive.

[@KarenYork-t2c]

Much of the baby boomer skills may soon be needed by all if the predicted EMP or CME happens! Modern conveniences are wonderful, but when power goes out as it does often during storms at least in my area, old skills are required to function and live! I’m glad I’m a boomer!

[@donaldwycoff4154]

I found great pleasure in your video. Curiously, just this morning, I was reminiscing about my father imparting the art of using a slide rule. For many years, he carried a circular slide rule in his pocket, a steadfast companion in his pursuits. How remarkable it is that you would choose to release a video that touches upon these very instruments of calculation!

[@GaryHardyInc]

I'm 72. When I got of the Army I worked for Toll Brothers, framed 100+ home. Then worked custom home construction while finishing college, about 20 custom home. Later built 2 homes, renovated 10 more for myself. College was B.S. in Chemical Engineer which evolved into software engineering for 40 years. Rebuilt a '67 Vette and '65 C-10 in my garage. Pretty happy with my skillset, personally and financially. 😁

[@malloryjines5050]

Toll Brothers went on to build many beautiful and upscale homes here in so CA. Always wanted to live in one.

[@TATTPAK392]

Useless life skills?? These are essential life skills most of us still use today. I’d say teaching kids about their pronouns and what gender they think they are absolutely useless and obscene. What I wouldn’t give to go back in time at a different age instead of living in this disaster

[@ronaldlee3537]

@TATTPAK392: And people that they can change their gender through hormones and surgery is absurd.

[@ndean1687]

Absolutely right!

[@denickite]

My husband at 76 still changes the oil and does as many repairs as he can. Just built a garage this summer. I still hang clothes up to dry at pur Ca. house! Still make food and bake from scratch. Can too! All these skills are useful and necessary.

[@adorabledeplorable5105]

I saw an old Foto mat shop in Oregon City which is now a drive through coffee bar .

[@dead2selfShema]

Can't pay me to use or accept microwave food even at a restaurant ... I ask the wait staff. Haven't used one in 30+ years. Know how to have a garden, can food with stove pressure cooker and a instant pot. Make a week of planned meals. Have large book library with dictionary and other resource books. The way world is going get ready to kiss Internet goodbye.

[@garywagner2466]

With the exception of shorthand, we did all of those things. Cooking and baking are not quite lost, but admittedly will be eventually. Young people just can’t be bothered. They don’t have gardens so have nothing to preserve. Their loss. The really sad part is that folks have access to Google, but don’t use it for anything consequential. So the youngest kids are actually less well informed, and aware, than we were without the Internet.

[@arturcostasteiner9735]

Thats not true

[@wcwright44]

Those recipe cards and hand written recipes are priceless. I know who gave them to me and when. My long deceased aunt had beautiful handwriting. I may have tweaked recipes but I never altered the hand written copy. I have a Swedish recipe box that is stuffed full of memories.

[@cyclenut]

People did more than just change oil. Many had a big tool box as cars and pickups were easy to work on. in 79 when I was 16 people gave me their old early 60s VW beetles, 3 bugs. I got a repair manual and took them apart and made them like new and it didn't cost much. Later in the late 80s and early 90s I would get late 60s early 70s pickup and rebuild it. For a few hundred dollars I had a good dependable truck New cars and pickups are no longer easy to fix. And few people have tools today. I loved how there were many things to learn. I see people today as lazy and much less capable, helpless.

[@jmp42956]

I have a collection of recipes I started in high school. I graduated in 1974. We grew our vegetables and canned for the future. My nephew brought a notebook to my house and hand copied all of his favorite recipes. He collected recipes from other friends’ and families’. He still has it and his daughters are starting their own collection.

[@malloryjines5050]

I’ve always had a recipe box FILLED with recipes on my counter and we use them constantly!

[@loriloristuff]

Planning meals is not dead. Batch cooking is very useful these days. And meals had processed shortcuts all the time in the 50s, 60s and 70s. What do you think Campbell's Soup is? Read the label! Before fax, there was Quip and Teletype. My great-grandmothers had washing machines. By the time the baby boom hit, if there wasn't a washer in the home, there was a laundromat nearby. People who could take shorthand and type at a decent speed- money in the bank. People still can, especially these days. I just taught a niece how to can.

[@jillv4006]

I was pretty good at shorthand in the early 80’s in high school. My first semester in college, I took notes in shorthand and realized fairly quickly that it was much more difficult to study from them as you had to read them in context, rather than just quickly scan them over. I promptly stopped using shorthand and never picked it up again.

[@yugioht42]

I change my oil myself every time. It’s not really about saving money just something anyone should do out of necessity. I automatically do the three provided by the car company but after that I do it because I actually enjoy putting in a new oil in that lasts a long time. I even asked my friends to at least learn to do it but for some reason they don’t want to. It’s super easy if you know what you’re doing.

[@georgekoelsch3641]

I wish I could do my own oil change or brakes again. But due to arthritis throw out my body I will get down there but never get backed again.

[@displacedyankee7819]

Its also a good way to know it was done correctly. I've known people who went to those chain oil change places only for the grease monkey to strip the drain plug by tightening it too much or the plug drops out from not being tightened enough.

[@debanydoombringer1385]

The problem is a lot of places have restrictions against it due to disposal of the oil.

[@yugioht42]

Florida doesn’t have too strict rules about changing oil just as long as the used oil goes into the correct container and it’s disposed of properly. Other than checking the car through for leaks and other issues. I’ve got slightly leaky AC system but nothing too crazy. It leaks condensation but it’s within normal limits.

[@PlumbBob-FGX]

One thing that has been lost, but is needed more than ever today. Common Sense. Which is very uncommon in 2024.

[@diannanagelvoortsaltz469]

I call BS on the cooking. I prep and cook every day…..only I’m not a housewife