One hundred years ago in America only a handful of Jews even attempted to be frum. Milk was a problem (the heterim for Stam Halav only apply after the government started regulating milk – back then it was sold “by quality” based on how it was dilluted and with what). Being frum always meant be desperately poor, and knowing that to become affluent meant giving up Torah. Life in eneral wasn’t so great either – remember this is before air conditioning, before refrigerators, before anti-biotics. In the English speaking countries violent anti-semitism wasn’t a problem.
Go back 200 or more years the poverty was still a problem, but almost no one had indoor plumbing. Life expectancy was horrific by our standards (no sanitation, no serious surgery other than amputations since there were no pain killers stronger than whiskey or opium, most children didn’t live to adulthood, and complications of pregnancy and childbirth were the leading causes of death for women). Before trains and steamships, a city forty miles away meant an overnight trip – and forget about travelling further unless you were making it a very long voyage.
You go back 500 years, books were a rarity. A humash was something owned by a shul or a rich person. A sidur was an heirloom. A complete Talmud was something you would rarely encounter.
The truth of the matter, is now is a very good time to be alive.