OG Strong players… Seriously what did you guys do before engines and online chess?

My entire chess career has been in the presence of engines and the internet so I wonder… how did it all even work?

How did you analyze your own games? Was it rarely fruitful without a coach or stronger player willing to explain things to you? When you weren’t sure if a move was good or bad, you just had to take the stronger players word for it even if they were technically wrong? (unbeknownst to either of you).

If you wanted to practice, you couldn’t just play your neighbor or friend, they’re probably not anywhere near your strength. So, it must have been common for chess clubs to form friend circles that practice against each other even outside of the club?

If you were a kid who aspired to be a titled player, was your only hope befriending the strongest players in your local club for advice on games and/or coaching in general?

For puzzles and puzzle books, how could the author be sure the answers were correct without engines? They must have all been positions from GM games that were analyzed to death by other GMs? I happen to remember in How to Reassess Your Chess 4th Edition, IM Jeremy Silman points out that this newest edition has its move sequences verified with strong chess engines as that was a complaint about prior editions, was this a common problem for chess improvement books?