Used to own a 1917-construction house, can confirm the lumber thing. It was wild. The huge framing beams visible around the foundation in the basement were damn

Used to own a 1917-construction house, can confirm the lumber thing. It was wild. The huge framing beams visible around the foundation in the basement were damn near veneer-quality by today’s standards. The diagonally-laid underfloor boards were so flawless that most could have been hardwood floor themselves (aside from their probably being pine, I mean). We still had good finishing wood into the 80s or so. Lots and lots of blue-collar family homes still being build with solid wood trim and doors. That dropped off over that decade and was just about gone by some time in the ‘90s, and now we put cardboard trim and fake-wood doors in $750,000 houses.