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    15 Forgotten Skills From The Old Days

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    15 Forgotten Skills From The Old Days

    In a time before stores and home centers, our pioneer ancestors pretty much had to improvise everything. If you wanted it or needed it and couldn’t buy it, you were on your own.

    As a result, they mastered various skills that would allow them to use the natural resources available to them to construct and craft everything from clothing to baskets and even the tools they needed to build or assemble anything.

    We’re going to explore some of the forgotten skills. They are high-value skills that can not only enable self-sufficiency but might come in handy some day if times get tough and resources become limited. 

    We’ll provide links to videos and articles that can allow you to at least understand the basics, and maybe encourage you to master the crafts.

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    1. Pottery

    Potter’s Wheel

    Pottery goes back thousands of years. Ancient amphoras are still found in shipwrecks from thousands of years ago and many archaeological explorations are defined by ancient examples of pottery.

    On a fundamental level, pottery starts with clay usually placed on a potter’s wheel that was spun by foot to allow a potter to shape and form everything from bowls to pitchers, plates and cups.

    The clay was then allowed to dry or baked over coals or in an oven to harden the clay into pottery. Often, various glazes were added to the outer parts and hardened in ovens or over fire.

    Here are some of the more relevant links to the basics about pottery:

    2. Coopering

    Wooden Barrel

    Coopering defines the process of barrel making. Barrels were the container of choice for storage of everything from water to wine. The barrel maker or “Cooper” would start by steaming strips of wood that had been carefully carved and cut to fit tightly together.

    Coopering also led to wooden buckets and tubs. I was a very precise process that required careful carving to create watertight seams.

    A critical step was the use of metal straps to not only define the shape of the barrel but to make it sturdy and watertight. A carefully crafted lid was then positioned at the top and bottom of the barrel, bucket or tub.  

    It’s not an easy task but the results are worth the effort. Here are links to articles and videos that cover the ancient craft of coopering:

    3. Basket Weaving

    Basket Maker

    Who knows who figured this out for the first time, but baskets were invaluable for a tribe or culture that depended on foraging and gathering for food. They were also necessary for storage in addition to transport.

    Everything from reeds to sticks to grasses were woven into various types of containers. It’s actually pretty simple once you understand the concept. 

    Here are some links to some very good videos and articles that can help you get started along with some links to basic basket weaving kits and tools:

    4. Lye Making

    Ash to Lye Distillation

    Lye is a highly alkaline substance that was critical for soap making and even for cooking in a small dilution. The primary source for lye is wood ash soaked in water and continuous boiling and reduction creates the lye.

    But be careful. Lye is highly caustic hitting around a 13 on the pH scale from 0 to 14. Here are some good links that can teach you all about lye:

    5. Green Woodworking

    Pioneer Tools

    Green woodworking is all about working with green, flexible wood from trees. Green branches are flexible and can be shaped into chairs, benches and even bent to create a bed or couch.

    As the green wood dries or seasons it will hold its shape and become more sturdy. A usual step is to strip or peel the bark from the green wood but that’s not always necessary. 

    Here are some links to some videos and articles from people who have mastered the art of working with green wood:

    6. Spinning

    Woman at Spinning Wheel

    Spinning starts with a spinning wheel. You can often find them in antique stores or at flea markets. The hard part is finding the materials to spin into a yarn or thread.

    Wool is often spun as well as flax and cotton. All you’re trying to do is make a yarn or thread from a natural source. 

    Here’s a good set of links that can explain the concept:

    7. Weaving

    Weaving on Loom

    Weaving is another ancient skill that has to leave us scratching our heads about who figured this out. The primary tool for weaving is called a loom. It allows rows from spun materials to be woven together to essentially create a sheet of fabric. It’s a brilliant idea and the fundamental foundation of clothing.

    Here are more links to more about weaving:

    8. Making Charcoal

    Charcoal Pieces

    Charcoal is actually an accident of inefficient burning. What someone figured out is that the partially charred chunks of wood could be reignited and actually did a better job when it came to cooking certain things. 

    The process is fairly simple and hardwoods are traditionally the best choice for charcoal.  Here are links to more about making charcoal from scratch.

    9. Ice Harvesting

    Man on Ice

    Long before refrigerators was something known as the “ice box.” It actually looked like a refrigerator with a large block of ice in a top compartment that kept everything inside cool as it eventually melted.

    The ice was usually harvested from deep layers of ice on lakes and cut with long saws. The ice was then stored in a barn or “ice house” surrounded by bales of hay and straw. A well insulated ice house could actually sustain the ice blocks into summer.

    Here are links about how to harvest and actually preserve ice:

    10. Natural Dyeing

    Dyeing Fabric

    It’s impossible to know who or why someone decided that woven fabrics could or should be dyed a certain color. The simple fact is that everything from berries to onion skins can impart a color to fabric.

    The dye was usually boiled and sometimes vinegar was added. The fabric was then allowed to dry and unique colors were the result.

    Here are some links to articles and videos that not only demonstrate how to dye fabrics but some natural sources for various colors:

    11. Tanning

    Vintage Tanning

    Animal skins were mostly likely the first form of clothing. But the skins need to go through a process to make them soft and workable. This process is defined as “tanning” and the primary step in the tanning process is the removal of all animal fat from the skin.

    The skin was then dried and worked to make it soft and pliable. In fact, Eskimo women would often chew the skins of tanned animals to soften it. The fur of the animal also had to be removed and a combination of boiling water and the lye from wood ash helped make this easier.

    Here are links to articles and videos on tanning everything from deer to buffalo and of course – cattle.

    12. Blacksmithing

    Blacksmith Workshop

    The emergence of the iron-age marked the emergence of blacksmithing. It’s a brutal and fiery process using high heat raised by the wind or a bellows, and hard direct strokes from a mallet or sledge. 

    The result was the emergence of tools from swords to axes to scythes and shovels. The rise of agriculture would have been impossible without blacksmithing. 

    It’s not hard to do but you need the tools and a basic knowledge of how to approach this.  Here are the links:

    13. Leatherworking

    Leather Crafting

    Tanning skins is one thing but knowing what to do with the tanned skins is another.  Leather working enabled the creation of various containers and shapes and even clothing. 

    Here are some of the better examples of the tools you need and the knowledge:

    14. Roof Thatching

    Thatched Roof House

    You can split shingles from a stump for roofing. You could also use bark. But in many parts of the world where trees were few and far between, grasses were woven or thatched to create roofs.

    They not only added a layer of insulatation to the roof, but when thatched and aligned properly repelled and drained rain and snow. What’s surprising is that modern thatched roofs cost more than any conventional roof. Maybe that’s a good reason to figure out how to do this yourself.

    Here are some links to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about thatched roofs:

    15. Making Syrup from Tree Sap

    Maple Sap Boiling

    In a time before sugar mills the common option for many people was honey. But honey harvesting involves beekeeping and for many it was just too much. Until they figured out they could boil sap from many trees to make a sweet syrup.

    Maple trees are the most common choice for syrup making but black walnut trees, boxelder trees and even birch trees can produce a sweet syrup when boiled down.

    On average it takes about 40 gallons of sap to boil down to one gallon of syrup. The trees do most of the work but you’ll have a very long day or two boiling the sap to syrup. The common goal is a temperature of 120 degrees F to get to syrup. When you’re there -you’re done.

    Here’s more all about it:

    Think About It

    Some of these skills require tools and equipment, but others can be done with simple tools and equipment you already have on hand. What’s critical is a fundamental knowledge about the process and to just do this stuff. 

    It’s worth visiting some of the links and at least getting familiar with the fundamentals. You never know, we all may need to do things this way again someday.

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