“Granny Hobbies”, or Young People and the Revival of Persistence Crafts
By Remy Cox
Traditional handicrafts, often taking the form of domestic practices that extend the life of things in the home or stretch sparse resources, have seen an uptick in younger generations since the pandemic. Hobbies like canning, fiber crafts like knitting and crochet, sewing, gardening, or baking, all center creation and longevity. They take patience, time, and precision to master, and the most skilled at these tasks have a lifetime of knowledge from their trials and failures.
However, many of these hobbies have skipped a generation. Anecdotally, lots of young people have fond memories of their grandmothers engaging in such hobbies as a part of life, but their mothers may not have learned or upheld the same practices. Thus, although these practices are growing more popular with a younger generation, they must contend with the knowledge lost in the skipped generation. In the increasingly convenient world of the later 20th century, why bother? What’s the point in sewing a garment or canning at home when it’s easier and faster to go to a department store or the grocery store?
So, why might young people be inclined to engage with so-called “granny hobbies”, if they fell out of popularity with the generation before them? Considering the current economic prospects for American new adults, practicality could play a role. With a simple investment into even basic sewing supplies for example, beloved items of clothing can be made to last—a visible mend is a sign of care for an item that has served its’ owner, and an extension of the time before a new item must be purchased. Additionally, this could be in response to a world that forces ever-developing insidious forms of permanent digital connection. Practicing slow-paced “granny hobbies” are a way to disconnect in a productive and personally enriching way.
How does this relate to Appalachia? In a region that is consistently poorer than the rest of the nation, “persistence crafts” as I’m choosing to refer to them, were historically not only for leisure, but for survival. In the most rural parts of Appalachia, electrification and easy road access to large town centers might not have come until well into the middle of the 20th century, and even then there would be the issue of both distance and expense. In those conditions, it obviously was not a choice, but a necessity for survival to stretch what’s available as far is it could go.
The fears of traditional crafts and practices fading into oblivion as we forge onwards into a high-tech future are valid. However, as long as the need to be fed, clothed, and entertained persists, so will the most domestic of Appalachian handicrafts. While a revival of “persistence crafts” among young people could be a means of survival in increasingly difficult times, it could also point to the possibility of a resurgence in other Appalachian traditions.