I especially like this video: https://youtu.be/lZfpQzV2GnM ("Ropes and Hollywood", a rant about the value of rope and the silliness of cutting one 1-4 times every 90 minutes)
Great example. It is easy to forget how expensive everything was prior to mechanization. Every bit and bob required untold hours of human labor. Senseless destruction would have been unthinkable.