I suppose it would be mostly practical skills, cooking, fixing things. Usually had to be done by people themselves.
Maybe also mental things like navigating (with or without paper map) and remembering their daily and weekly agendas.
What other things would be a big difference with the people today?
Huh? Who doesn’t know how to cook? It is easy and very common in mowt circles. I think you need to readjust your life if you think that is rare. eating out is not only expensive it is also unhealy most of the time.
And now men cook…im pretty sure my grandpa never cooked a damn thing.
From looking at history this seems confined to one generation - in 1950 the “ideal family” was a man going to work 9-5, and the women staying home to cook/clean. For a while it even worked out that way for a lot of people, but over the 1960s there was a culture revolution and women started working, while men learned to help. This process is continuing on.
Look longer over history though you see that in almost all cultures men would regularly get into situations where there were no women around to cook. Hunting, or working in the field all day often meant men and women were separated and so men had to cook for themselves if they were to eat. (women between 15 and 40 were regularly pregnant or nursing a baby - men cannot do these things, and they limit what a woman can do so some activities become men’s work.) Not to mention war which typically was mostly men, though “camp followers” did cook for the army in some cases.
Which is to say, maybe your Grandpa didn’t cook. However that men in his generation didn’t cook was an outlier. Over history men and women both cooked.
I dont disagree, just the question was about 50 years ago and today.
Well, that’s what I thought too. My family used to, and still does cook almost every meal. Only eating out for special occasions. But asking around with colleagues in the place I live now. It’s surprising how many order takeout or go to a local restaurant for dinner.
I used to know a guy at church who said he didn’t know how to cook and went to the convenience store for every meal.