Depends how long back you go. And where to. Generally speaking, if you take some mean average or something, ppl knew how to produce technologies that became obsolete since. No human alive can reproduce standard Roman masonry. We've machines do it today. Only few enthusiasts today can do subarctic bare-hand hunting. Used to be something every child was taught in those regions. Today we farm and ship. So basically we advanced in everything we do and discarded what is no longer needed.

As for all the "quality was better" argument, it is not a function of time, it is a function of capitalism. The know-how of how to make quality furniture or whatnot is there, more than ever. But if you want to make a profit, you can't make tables that last a lifetime. You'll run out of market. You need your customer to come get a new one every few years. There's no real market for quality.