Do you ever wonder how people didn't die of boredom in the olden days

[AthenaisdeRochechouart]

Before telly and iPads and Netflix and access to unlimited books/music via Amazon?

What did they do to stop going stark staring mad? Could you cope long term without the above?

I remember morningtoncrescent's kind of boredom, although I think it's easier to entertain yourself as an adult than it is as a child. I had virtually no money as a child, and wasn't from a well off background. I dearly wanted to bake but we would never have all the ingredients in, and things like eggs were too expensive to be experimented with.

Now I'm grown up I have so much more autonomy and freedom to please myself (well, at least when the children are in bed!)

My grandmothers had 6DC and said they found the domestic work (and low paid WoH) endless and exhausting. Not much time for leisure. One used to drink a lot, which she said helped her cope (she stopped completely in her 50s), the other delegated domestic work to her DDs (not her DSs) and was an avid knitter.

Not only did we have no internet, phones, social media etc many of us grew up in an era when kids were just left to our own devices. Parenting was seen as a chore not a privilege. If I ever told my Mum i was bored in the summer holidays she would tell me to go for a bike ride. So I did, in my own aged maybe 8 or younger, down deserted country lanes, for hours, no mobile phone. I wrote stories, read the same five books over and over, knocked for friends, had my own patch of garden, cared for pets, made prank calls from the village phone box. But - I was also frequently bored and listless, sometimes lonely, usually ignored by parents and remember hating Sundays with a passion. Just hearing the theme tune to That's Life could make me feel panicky. But today i am never, ever bored - just couldn't be as I've learned to be self reliant and resilient and yes I love the benefits of technology but they enhance my life that's all.

My grandparents lived in a tied cottage and didn't have electricity until 1977. No labour saving devices meant they worked from the time they got up until almost the time they went to bed. The little free time they had they listened to the wireless, read the paper, or the People's Friend for granny. They didn't have hobbies because there was no time for them. I'm sure they would have loved to be bored.

We were rarely bored as children but then we weren’t wrapped so,tight in cottwool we suffocated either. No television, no telephone, no car. We walked three miles and caught a bus 7 miles to and from school each day aged four upwards ( looked after by older primary aged children). We went to the beach almost daily from April to late September without adult supervision from about aged 5 years.
We rode our bicycles miles on picnics whilst at primary school.
We did household jobs such as cooking, washing up, shopping and laundry.
We went to recreation ground and sneaked onto tennis courts. We scumped. We went winkle picking on Sundays.
As teenagers we went to youth club and did kayaking, sailing, cycling and camping all for free. We did voluntary work. We read. We studied. We taught ourselves to play musical instruments. We walked everywhere. We spent summers camping and helping at camps for disabled children.
We went crabbing and collected newts from the marshes.
I don’t really recall being bored very often.

Huh OP. Are you for real? I get bored with having way too much choice and think that people had healthier, fulfilling lives when they were more physically active and likely more intelligent too.

I grew up in the 50s. We had a television, but there were only two channels, and DM wouldn't let me watch ITV. So only one channel, and neither channel broadcast continuously (that's why there was a "test card") - there was 15 mins of children's stuff around lunchtime, then an hour or so available after school.

I remember being bored occasionally, but being bored helped develop the ability to amuse yourself, something which is more difficult for today's children to learn.

I remember a pre Internet, pre iPads life. Tv only had 3 channels and seemed to show the test card for half the day and stopped broadcasting late evening.

I survived. Read a lot of books, spent time doing hobbies. I used to crochet and do a lot of paper quilling.

As a kid I was obsessed by nature, was a veritable Chris Packham.

Would be out looking for animal tracks and sketching them. Used to make DIY. Humane rabbit traps and go and check them daily as I was obsessed with catching a rabbit......never did! Used to climb trees, bird watch, kept a journal of what different plants I’d seen, etc.

Everything took ages to do and people walked everywhere and what you don’t know you don’t miss

Mind you google settles endless rows!

If dh and I don’t spend at least half an hour googling who was in that drama and how old are they I would be bereft

The word ‘bored’ was coined in the 1850s by Dickens. Prior to that, people had no time to be bored.

I’d much rather dc do other things than the superficial internet and phone related shite. People can live well without social media and ph9nes, they really can.

I was born in the 70s which my kids class as ‘olden days’. I read a lot, made things, played out, watched TV but had to wait a week for the next episode! I don’t remember being bored, but I do remember my brain being much less cluttered.

Never bored ! We read books from library. We did jigsaws, crafts, colouring books, played outside, did sports, visited relatives. When teenager made clothes on sewing machine, did chores like wash the car, chop wood for the real fire, gardening, hoovering, baking, wood work projects. On Sundays we wore our best clothes and went to local park and out for a drive in the car. The black and white TV was in the adult/lounge and was controlled by the adults at all times. We did the crafts etc in another room. We listened to the radio in the other room too. We also finished all craft projects and they were displayed in the house.

I think as a child it must be more boring nowadays as children aren’t allowed to do anything just play on iPads whereas we had much more freedom to go out and play and explore.

I can remember when I was about 10 going down the park, climbing trees and playing in the stream or going to the woods and building a camp. Far better than stuck indoors with an iPad

I always think its funny how people on an internet forum talk about how much better life offline is. Why are you on here?

Watched shit tele and gossiped

I am enjoying the way "the olden days" seems to encompass the cave-dwelling Neanderthals whittling their own spoons and dying of tooth abscesses, and the 1994 paper-fanzine-writers with a 5 digit phone number (plus local code - 3).

Yes kids, the one olden day, it was just like that.

syfychannel winnning comment there....

Before the internet and multi-channel tv, often household chores took longer (no washer dryer, or microwave etc). As others have observed.

Men spent many hours in the pub

To be fair, smoking 60 a day must take up a bit of time, not to mention mixing all those large gin and tonics

Yes, my grandmothers said their H’s went to the pub a lot, or to a mens’ club. They would come back for food then head out! And spend money.

My grandmother used to spend her evenings sewing, knitting, embroidery and playing cards.