Lost Manly Arts

I would add wearing a tie (bow and traditional and all the different ways to tie it), polishing shoes, wearing cuff links...

I would add pipe smoking and pipe maintenance as a lost manly art. Used to be every man smoked a pipe and knew its proper care and feeding. The art is being slowly rediscovered thanks to places like this forum. But most men don't know a thing about the proper arts of tobacco enjoyment. Hence, a lost manly art.

Lost manly arts... how about shoeing (might not be the correct spelling) a horse. I'm sure ever man used to have to know how to do this at some point. At least until the automobile was invented.

Sorry, but I can't think of anything less manly than talking about "what's manly?"

Repairing...anything.

Building...anything.

Thinking clearly about...anything
Oh, and hunting and killing a Woolly Mammoth.


Men doing manly things, circa 12,000 BCE

Bigvan, generally I agree. So I tend to avoid these conversations as they focus on things like shaving.
But I'll say this: as a guy who runs a small farm but frequently interacts with the white-collar world, a book could be written about soon-to-be-lost skills and the dependency of modern, western man. Let's just hope the power grid never goes down and that this extended period of relative peace and prosperity is not an anomaly.

Biggest lost manly art? Hands down, treating your lady like a lady!

I'm learning how to properly wax my mustache into handlebars... :D

Google a site called "Art of Manliness". It covers all manor of manly deeds.

With all the slip-on's people are wearing these days, you might in the near future be able to add "tying one's shoes" to the list.

Arts are lost when they are no longer relevant to conduct of the vast majority of the population's lives. With the migration of people into cities, many arts of rural living (and before that, survival in the wild, as woodsroad's post suggested) have fallen away. This is neither good nor ill, but a natural consequence of technology, demographics, and (at least in the United States) a growing focus on services rather than manufacturing.
So weep not for these lost arts! Though they may kindle nostalgia for the days of our grandparents, we are still people, and we practice many new arts to replace the old.

The farrier's trade is still taught a more than a few universities in the US and Canada. Hardly a lost art! Good money to be had for the quality farrier, especially one who is good at corrective shoeing.

The Art of Pipe SmokingBy Lost

Hitched wrote another article, the guy has been on a role.
He write about a mutual passion and hobby of ours, pipe smoking. I urge every man to head down to the local tobacconist and purchase a pipe and any assortment of tobacco and delve into a meditation one puff at a time.
Smoking the pipe is so much more than just inhaling tobacco like a cigarette, but i’ll let him explain that.
This is the start of a string of articles aimed at manly hobbies and their benefits to the mind, body and soul of a man.
—————————————————————————————————————
“A pipe in the mouth makes it clear that there has been no mistake–you are undoubtedly a man.”

-A. A. Milne
In the years since the rise of feminism, men have slowly lost manly traditions. Things and activities once enjoyed primarily by men have been scoffed at by women. One of these activities is pipe smoking. And no I’m not talking about weed in your pipe, I’m talking the pipe your Grandpa smoked. That sweet smelling smoke he lit up while relaxing reading the newspaper, or sitting in his armchair watching tv. The pipe was part of his daily activities.
Maybe you’ve never known a man who smoked a pipe, so you don’t know what I’m talking about. Either way it doesn’t change the fact that pipe smoking is a manly activity worth bringing back, it is an art.
Pipes were very common amongst men back in the 30′s and 40′s and up pretty much until the the cigarette took over. Men of all kinds smoked pipes, from farmers to executives. Today, men who smoke a pipe are taking part in a manly ritual that stretches back to the dawn of time and has continued unbroken to the present. The pipe smoker belongs to a breed apart from other men. His pleasures are contemplation and relaxation; he does not rush, he is not nervous. His joys are the casual and meditative ones, those of the fireside, the easy chair, and the good book. The pipe stands as a symbol of this type of man, easily recognized by his even frame of mind, his unhurried approach to life’s problems. It is almost always just such a man who chooses a pipe as his path to smoking enjoyment.
Pipe smoking is as much ritual as it is relaxation. There’s a certain satisfaction you get when you pack the tobacco into the bowl just right. Then, the whoosh of the match followed by that wonderful, aromatic smell. Smoke a pipe with one of your favourite drinks in the comfort of your favourite armchair, and you’ve got the makings of a perfect evening.
Pipe smoking is not a habit. Done properly it is an intellectual experience. It is an aid to contemplation, a mellower of moods, a soother of the troubled mind and a friend to the common man. It makes philosophers ruffians and levels any field where two pipe smokers come together. No matter what their differences may be, they will always be able to sit together and enjoy a bowl of tobacco in peaceful harmony.
This is not having a “smoke break” with a cigarette. In fact pipe tobacco smoke isn’t even inhaled. Its savoured in the palate of your mouth. Pipes can range from cheap corncob, to exquisite briarwood pipes. What you spend is totally up to you, but the experience will always be the same.
So go ahead, grab a pipe, some tobacco, matches and a scotch, and enjoy a manly tradition like no other ::

Proficiency in using firearms and the knowledge of how to properly clean and maintain them.

Handloading match grade ammunition for high power rifles.

Archery and bowhunting.

Field dressing deer, boar and upland birds.

Fermentation and Distillation of spirits.

Proficiency in riding dual sport motorcycle on and off road.

Woodworking and machining abilities.

DIY electronics (like building a point to point hand wired tube guitar amplifier from a schematic).

Celestial navigation with a sextant.

Wilderness survival know how (shelter building, emergency fire starting, water purification, map and compass navigation, wilderness first aid, how to construct snares and traps, etc.)

Leather working (making knife sheaths, gun holsters, etc.)

Boxing and/or martial arts

Horsemanship

Knifemaking
and
scrapbooking
j/k on that last one.

Oh! Pish posh!
I really dislike it when one person attempts to be a spokesman for everyone, attributing motives to actions which may or may not be real. He certainly has the right to define his pipe smoking if he desires. But, I've spent more time be contemplative on the throne in my "reading room" than leaning back with a pipe. Am I contemplative when I have a pipe in my hand? Sometimes yes, many times no. I have pipe in my jaw when driving the tractor and that is no place to be distracted from the job at hand.
While I'm sure many here that smoke the pipe in a ritualistic manner, many others use the pipe as a nicotine delivery device. The number of small bowl pipes sold for use during coffee breaks and lunch puts the lie to the statement "this is not having a a smoke break with a cigarette." To many, the pipe is the weapon of choice for a coffee break. I use my pipe, now and then cigar, to keep curious people away when out working with the camera.
Ritualistic? To more than a few it surely is. To me . . . not so much. Sate the bowl with tobacco, light it, tamp and relight and I'm good to go. Even with the pipe in my mouth I'm not a particularly "hail fellow, well met" kind of guy.
Lets not impute more to the pipe than it is. It's a crutch for many of us, a prop for the poseur, a calming influence for some, a way of buying time when posed a tough question. I am sure the pipe is many different things to many different people.
The author of that drivel may wish everyone was like his ideal piper, but I, for one, obviously am not. Heck, he never even mentions the many women of yesterday and today that smoke(d) pipes. Hardly a definitive undertaking in my mind.
Me thinks "Hitched" my be in the ranks of poseurs.

Is the ol' "Pull My Finger" thing an art?

Spanking the Wife?

Don't forget cunnalingus, Hobie. I have a great link of Nina Hartley teaching the ropes of the lost art.
If anyone is interested pm me

Bushcraft, and everything that goes with it! Black smithing and manual machining, the list goes on and on!