I can't say I rose nearly to the heights that Bob & others have, and I'm a bit younger, but remember recording things in the '70s/early '80s with a Realistic cassette recorder and supplied microphone. Serious quality there!
In college, had a couple of tape decks, so my roomate and I would record two tracks (one L, one R) and then bounce those to one track of the other deck while we played a third track, back and forth infinitum.
Finally found a friend who had a Tascam Portastudio 4-track, an 8 track mixer, and a few SM58s.
During this time, I also worked at a radio station and learned the art of splicing reel-to-reel tape. Did some limited production work there, although no music recording.
Upgraded roommates and recording capability eventually, with someone who had a Tascam 238 8-track cassette, 16-channel mixer and a couple of AKG 414s.
I finally discovered digital in the late '90s with the original CoolEdit Pro (which became Adobe Audition), then to Audacity, now to Reaper and full digital capability. CoolEdit/Audacity gave unlimited tracks but you still needed some outboard gear, and any effects were not real-time and were destructive. But the biggest leap was the ability to cut & paste sections or whole tracks to assemble a piece.
Reaper (and other modern DAWs that have come along since) have upped the game considerably, from much easier tracking, comping tracks, editing to real-time effects and VSTs. I am still learning a lot about these, but have no desire to go back!