How did they build houses with lathe and plaster?

Question - how did they ever build homes with lathe and plaster? It's a pain in the butt and I hate working with it...(see video below!)

I know it's been forever since I posted last, but things have just been crazy! From going to a job interview in Ohio and back and forth between IL and KS after a month's stay in IL working up there for a while - I'm finally back in KS to stay and back to work!

Quick update: The house, except for minor areas like around some windows and the porch railings, has been painted!!! Good to go for another 15-20 years (and hopefully I won't be painting it) So that big project has been tackled. I'll finish the rest bit by bit while the weather holds up, but in my eyes it's done and I don't have to worry about it!

Dad was down here last weekend, so we worked on putting up new sheet rock on the second floor ceiling in the hallway and on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Dad also had some luck in the clearance section of Lowes and found basically what is tongue & groove wood laminate that is designed for the ceiling. We only had about 100 sq ft of it, so we weren't sure where to put it. There were several places upstairs that we could have used it since the lathe & plaster ceilings are cracked and/or falling down, and we seriously thought about using it for the master bathroom, since that ceiling really needs to be redone somehow. But after debate, we decided to use it in the hallway to cover up the unleveled ceiling. Once I have it done I'll be sure to post pics.

As with any old house made of lathe & plaster, several of the walls are cracking or have already fallen down (largely due to the foundation settling and other things like water damage from bad roofs, etc). Luckily, most of the walls that are cracked are being held up by 20 year old wallpaper Mom put up when we first moved into the house, so it's just a matter of putting up new sheet rock on top of the wall and Ta-Da! A new wall! Currently, I'm working on finishing up the master bedroom (see video) and soon will move on to other items on the list - which continues to grow every day it seems like.