“”dirt floors and weekly baths, wood heat and wood cook stoves””
Probably not so much different from other elders on this site. Except for the “dirt floors”, I grew up with all of the above in upstate NY!
I grew up outside a city in Illinois in the 1940s, then we moved to town in the early 50s. Never lived without plumbing/power, though.
In 1975, my husband and I moved to rural WI and I encountered people who lived just as you say, even then. I had no idea there were still places where indoor plumbing wasn’t universal. It came to the rural part of our present county in 1967 or so. I think they had electric power, though.
There were people who signed their counter checks at the bank with an X and many who had never been more than 50 miles from home, if that. Yet, they raised their own food, cut their own fuel and managed to live their lives. But it all seemed exotic and like something from the distant past or a foreign country.