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Finally compared a 1960s DIY book against a modern one on the same project
I picked up this old "Practical Home Repairs" book from 1964 at a garage sale for 50 cents. It had a chapter on fixing a leaky faucet, so I followed it step by step. Then I looked up the same thing in a 2023 guide from the library. The old book assumed you had basic tools and common sense, no fancy lingo or 15 safety warnings. The new one spent 3 pages on what materials to buy and barely got into the actual fix. Has anyone else noticed older how-to books just get to the point way faster?
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the_morgan8d ago
Did you notice how the old book just says "use a wrench" while the new one has you buying a whole kit? My buddy Dave tried to fix his sink using a modern guide. He got so hung up on finding the exact brand of plumber's putty that three days went by. He finally called his grandpa who told him to just grab some from the hardware store and stop overthinking it. The modern book had him measuring thread sizes and looking up pipe specs. The old book would have had him done in an hour and a half.
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