December 22, 2007
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One Hundred Years Ago
The year was 1907, One hundred years ago.
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the year 1907.
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
92 percent of the homes didn’t have 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.
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.
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 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 into 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 30!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice 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.
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 pharmacists said, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”
There were about 230 reported Murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!
What a difference a century makes!What do you think it will be like in another 100 years!
Comments (5)
The most disturbing on that list to me is the no crosswords puzzles. What did people DO on Sunday morning if not the NYT Sunday crossword????
Oh yeah. I guess they went to church. And did heroin.
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 the government as “substandard.”
This is probably directly linked to this, The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old. , don’t ya think???
“92 percent of the homes didn’t have a telephone.” Ah, those were the good old days! What a great list. I reminds me of my grandmother–she was so impressed by the fact that she saw the first cars AND saw the first man walk on the moon.
50 Years ago, UK style:
When I started teaching in 1958 here in the UK, we used to queue at the cinema to watch American film stars live a life we could only dream of, with such things as motor cars, refrigerators, big televisions and telephones. Only the head teacher at our school had a car, no one had a fridge except those living in “prefabs” built after the war, which had fridges built in. Only one pupil on my class register had a home telephone!
All medal have two sides .
Merry Christmas .
In friendship
Michel