"Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." Eccl 1:10.
We often hear complaints about the decline of Amateur Radio in one way or another. Often people say that we just don't build stuff the way we used to. Well now, 'twas ever thus!
You can read it yourself in the pages of QST for March, 1916. That's an article by Lloyd Manuel called "Thoughts of the Good Old Palmy Days". He's talking about his old-time experiences -- probably ca 1905 -- when men were men and hams had to build their own stuff!
This article is a transcription from the QST archives. You may be interested to browse through selected portions of early QST at history.aa6e.net.