Good observation about detail/lack of detail in sci-fi fantasy depictions of daily life. *Looks around guiltily at lack of detail in the low-tech SF story I'm currently revising.*

To be honest, I don't remember much of those details from The Hobbit, a bit more from The Lord of the Rings, but I'm not surprised Tolkien did that well. He had a lot of military marching experience to draw on, in addition to just coming from an age that relied less on machines and stores to do things.