| Jan 7, 2006 @ 1:32 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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raykl
Posts: 566
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The year is 1905. One hundred years ago!
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1905:
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. (Wish they still were.)
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education.
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools,
many of which were condemned in the press and
by the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and Influenza
2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
The American flag had 45 stars.
Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
The population of
Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. (Not sure we have improved on this one.)
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores! Back then pharmacist said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)
Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. It staggers the mind.
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 1:50 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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Angel54214
Posts: 14,056
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Oh Angel so loves the Victorian Era! Those bustles and those hats!
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 1:53 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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TiNkErGrRrRrR
Posts: 13,791
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 Yes and they had Servants too
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 2:24 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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kattsmeow
Posts: 21,271
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Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores! Back then pharmacist said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)
Now you can get these at your local corner,,,,
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 2:52 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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Angel54214
Posts: 14,056
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Or police station if you know someone....yuck!
'Child Labor', earned about 48 cents per day in the cotton industry.
[Edited on 1/7/2006 2:56 PM]
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 3:18 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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CynCity
Posts: 556
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Love it, Katts! 
I received a copy of my family's 1910 census a few months ago, and found my Irish born great-grandparents were both literate...it never occurred to me they weren't!
They paid $20 in rent per month, with a non-related border that paid $10. Just a lil' more trivia.
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 3:32 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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MotownManiax
Posts: 7,881
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Yep, amazing stats, ray. But you don't even have to go back 100 yrs. Go back just 50?
Just off the top of my head: no computers, instant telecommunication, cell phones, commercial jet flight, space flight, Internet, heart transplants, artificial internal body parts.
More change has been packed into our present era, from the early 20th to the 21st Centuries, than all the time before.
Yes, it will be amazing to see what 2106 would be like. Too bad we won't see it. 
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 3:36 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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Angel54214
Posts: 14,056
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Oh no Motown....Angel don't want to see 2016. Humans will be replaced with cloning and mechanical parts and an extinction on oil to oil those parts..oh my! 
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 3:40 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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MotownManiax
Posts: 7,881
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Hey, don’t mind living that long, as long as I don't squeak, Angel. 
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 4:24 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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raykl
Posts: 566
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I received a copy of my family's 1910 census a few months ago, and found my Irish born great-grandparents were both literate...it never occurred to me they weren't!
Those who came through Ellis Island, had their names spelled
at the whim of who was signing them into the country. My
grandmother's name was Mary, but because of her Russian
accent the man wrote it down as "Meri". Thus all of her legal
documents afterwards had to have that spelling. This will explain why some of your last names are spelled as they are.
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 4:39 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class
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CynCity
Posts: 556
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My ex-father-in-law, who was born here but raised in Italy, was always known as Arturo. He was surprised to find that though that was the name his mother gave him, the nurse changed it to Arthur when filling out his birth certificate (probably thinking she was helping, giving him an americanized name). He was in his late 50's when he found out, had several corporations, all his records, etc., with the "wrong" name on it...not to mention two namesakes!
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| Jan 7, 2006 @ 8:54 PM |
1905--For those who slept through History class |
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Checkmate
Posts: 185
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The song "2525" comes to mind!
I'm Polish but was born here. My first grade nun shortened my first name because my given name was too long and difficult for the other kids to say! It wouldn't have been my choice, but it stuck!
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