I remember as a kid seeing canned (mason jars) preserves in nearly every "old persons" homes. Most of us had pear and fig trees (apples don't grow good down here).
Fig preserves spread on biscuits was the way to go back then.
Meats were cooked in a smoke house and preserved with salt (before my time though). Potatoes were kept in cool cellars or other cool spots and lasted many days.
My mother never refrigerated chicken eggs and they stayed fresh for days. They aren't refrigerated when the hen lays them.