I was recently listening to someone who said that before the 20th century, it was far more common for people to be able to generate their own entertainment.
On one hand, the examples are obvious. Kids once made up their own games and play without needing fancy toys, their parent's Ipad, or an Xbox.
But as a historian, do you see premodern people as being able to "create culture," and "entertainment," better than the average person does today?
For instance, were creative oral story-telling skills far more common than its been in modern history (where story creation seems relegated to those who write books and movie scripts)?
Were more people able to play an instrument?
Would the literate be writing their own poetry or short stories to share with their families?
I'll take any premodern time period you may have access to, but I'd like to know about as wide a swath of the populace as I can get.
Appalachian culture has a strong tradition of storytelling, folk songs, and dance music! There are some great online archives from the 20th century of what these folk songs sounded like, after they had been passed down within the relatively isolated communities. Music was often written in “shape notes”, a simplified way of noting music, so that many people could understand how to sing along.