Well, not so much my parents, but my mother.
Original caption: "Mending socks for the American soldiers. Bureau of Refugees,
Toure. (See number 7676) Refugee woman mending socks for the American
soldiers at Toure under the direction of the AMERICAN RED CROSS. This is
part of the great salvage work that is making socks, sweaters, etc.
that have been worn, as good as new at a small cost, while at the same
time the women are enabled to support themselves".
People just don't do this anymore. When socks wear out, they toss them out (although I'll confess, perhaps oddly enough, that my socks have to be pretty darned worn out before I thrown them out. . . a hold over, I suppose, from my poor student days).
My mother darned socks her entire life. When I was a kid, she'd darn my worn socks. I hated that as the wool she'd use to do it rarely matched the socks in color (although why would that matter) and wearing darned socks is not all that comfortable really. But it must not have mattered to her, as she did it right up until her mind was stolen by age in her advanced old age.
Original caption: "Washington, D.C. Lynn Massman, wife of a second class petty
officer studying in Washington, D.C., darns socks in the afternoon while
baby Joey has his nap".
She must have learned this skill at home, no doubt. And no doubt at some point in her early life it came in handy.
Does anyone at all do this now? I'm guessing not many.
