I am not saying your are right or wrong, but it was just a slower life style. My in-laws had 2 cars, but they both did not drive them everyday. A gardening was a hobby my FIL enjoyed.
My in-laws grew up in the Great Depression, my FIL was in WW2, so they only used cash to purchase anything. They basically bought nothing on credit, their idea was if we want it, we will save for it. When he died, we found thousands of dollars that he had squirreled away in the basement and in the freezer, he had purchase quite a few CD's and never told my MIL. He grew up poor, had seen what it was like to have banks close and wipe people out, and he was not going to let that happen to him.
I always tell my wife, her dad died the best way possible, he had just finished eating Sunday Dinner, rolled back in his chair and they think he was dead before he hit the floor. Massive heart attack. Hopefully they had sex in the morning.
My FIL, a quiet but very likeable guy, and man he loved to talk about his time in the army. Not in a bragging way, but just what he had seen and done.