Top 21+ Forgotten Crafts and Trades We Rarely See Today

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Long before Amazon, Walmart, and heck, even the Sears catalog, people had to make nearly all the items they needed for daily life. From tools for work and food preparation to home goods and articles of clothing, our resourceful ancestors used long-forgotten techniques to craft their essentials. Some folks demonstrated such craftsmanship that they built their career around one of these trades. Let’s take a closer look at 19 lost crafts and trades from the past to understand how the lifestyles of people living a century or two ago are so vastly different from our own lifestyles today.

#1: Blacksmithing

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

A specialized metalworker, a blacksmith forged various products from iron. While horseshoes are probably the first thing that pops to mind, lucky equine footwear represents just a fraction of blacksmith offerings. Blacksmiths made metal parts of wagon wheels, plow blades, nails, pots and pans, axes, and weaponry. It was a hot, demanding, and dangerous job that required long hours in front of a 3,000ºF forge and hammering liquid metal.

#3: Watchmaking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Did you know that there is a specific name for watchmaking? Horology refers to making watches, clocks, and other timepieces. Unlike that Apple Watch on your wrist, watches of the past had one job … to keep time. How accurately depended on the craftsman who combined technological precision with detailed artistry to make the watch.

#4: Sailmaking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

You could find one or more sailmaking shops in every port during the golden age of sailing. Sailmakers were specialized tailors who made and repaired the canvas sails that powered the great sailing vessels, whaling boats, and pirate ships of the past. Ripped or damaged sails could cripple a ship in the middle of the ocean, which is not the place you want to be stranded.

#6: Basket Weaving

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Basket weaving was an essential skill for people of the past. Baskets made of woven grass, reeds, cloth, or sticks could be used to collect and store food, carry goods to market, and even to catch fish. People today like to joke about how basket weaving is a brainless activity, but if you’ve ever tried it yourself, you will appreciate the skills and craftsmanship that is involved … not to mention the patience!

#7: Woodworking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

For people of the past, woodworking wasn’t a hobby; it was a mandatory life skill. How else could you get a well-built home, solid furniture, and outbuildings for your farm? You might be able to invite some friends over for a good, old-fashioned barn raiser, like they still do in Amish communities, but if you live in a remote area or your neighbors don’t like you, all the building projects fall in your lap.

#9: Candlemaking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

If you wanted to see anything beyond 5 p.m. in the winter, you had to have some sort of illumination in your home. Before Thomas Edison figured out the electric lightbulb, folks had to rely on other tactics to light their way. Like candles. If you are imagining cute beeswax candles or fragrant jar candles, think again. Most candles were made from animal fat … and they smelled like it when they were burned!

#10: Butchering

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Even the most devout meat eaters today prefer to be removed from the butchering process, buying their steaks at the grocery store instead of raising and slaughtering their own livestock. It is difficult to kill the cow, lamb, or pig you raised for months and even harder to enjoy the meat when you can still picture their innocent faces. Let’s not forget that butchering is gross and messy with plenty of opportunities for bacteria to land on your bacon.

#12: Millinery

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Millinery is definitely a lost trade. For many decades, ladies’ fashion dictated that women wore hats. Depending on the whims of fashion trends, these hats could be small and dainty or obnoxiously large and overly decorated. It was the milliner’s job to make fashionable hats for the town ladies, adding ribbons, bows, feathers, and flowers to design one-of-a-kind accessories. When the fancy hat fad finally died out, so did all the millinery shops.

#13: Spinning and Weaving

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Turning wool into cloth was an arduous process. It is no wonder that people in the past had so few articles of clothing. After you raise your sheep from a young lamb, you must catch it, bathe it, shave it, wash the wool, and pick all the briars and bugs out of it. Next, the wool was converted into threads – by magic, I think – on a spinning wheel. Lastly, the thin threads were woven tightly together on a loom. You might have hours and hours of labor invested before you see a yard of fabric.

#15: Candlewicking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Despite its name, candlewicking has nothing to do with candle making. Instead, it is a type of detailed embroidery that uses cotton thread to make patterns and images on muslin. The patterns – usually flowers, birds, and trees – were typically ornate and detailed with a monochromatic look.

#16: Rug Hooking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

Rug hooking enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the arts and crafts movement of the 1970s, but its roots go back much further. In the ‘70s, however, crafters weren’t necessarily interested in fashioning inexpensive floor coverings. They viewed these plush rugs as so decorative they should be hung on the wall like all works of art.

#18: Lacemaking

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

It is no wonder that lace has long been considered a luxury item. Lacemaking, or tatting, is a time-consuming craft. Take a close look at a piece of lace, and you can see that the pattern has been created by knotting delicate threads into intricate, open-weave patterns. Now imagine someone tying all these knots by hand.

#19: Coppersmithing

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

A brazier, a tradesman whose job was to craft items from copper and brass, a copper alloy, was a great career aspiration. Everyone needed copper pots, pans, kettles, plates, and tools in days gone by. Once the Bessemer process made steel more affordable and easily available, steel replaced copper, putting many braziers out of work.

#21: Roof Thatching

#1: Blacksmithing, #3: Watchmaking, #4: Sailmaking, #6: Basket Weaving, #7: Woodworking, #9: Candlemaking, #10: Butchering, #12: Millinery, #13: Spinning and Weaving, #15: Candlewicking, #16: Rug Hooking, #18: Lacemaking, #19: Coppersmithing, #21: Roof Thatching

The thatcher was someone who roofed homes, mostly using straw or reeds. While not nearly as popular as it was back in the day, this profession is still seen in some rural parts of the UK, but has largely vanished elsewhere. To be fair, it’s not really needed nowadays, as most homes are built using different and stronger materials, and using different and stronger machinery.

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