This is to a large degree explainable by way of "rosy retrospection". Quality has many facets - for example, I doubt they could tell you how often people in th

This is to a large degree explainable by way of "rosy retrospection". Quality has many facets - for example, I doubt they could tell you how often people in their youth died from salmonella, e. coli, or the like. Food was also significantly more expensive, and in colder regions fruit was nearly impossible to come by in winter months. Was an apple from 1918 more nutritious than one bought in store today? It's possible, but then again nobody (in the developed world) in the 2008 recession was in danger of starving - a very different proposition than during the Great Depression.