Saturday, August 21, 2010

The good old days



I don't know how accurate this is, but it makes for interesting reading.





The year is 1910
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:
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The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !
The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
The average US 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 took place at HOME .
Ninety percent of all 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.

The Five Leading Causes of Death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars ....
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 adults couldn't read or write and 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.'
( Shocking? DUH! )
Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help ....
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !

5 comments:

Mary Christine said...

eggs and coffee were relatively exorbitant!

Bill said...

Whether these facts are 100% accurate or not, things were certainly much different then.
I'm in the first generation on either side of my family that was born in a hospital. That had never occurred to me until I read this post. It didn't seem to make me any healthier.

Trailboss said...

That list was very interesting. Things have changed so much, but not so much in a good way.

Syd said...

What a difference 100 years makes. Not for the better in many ways.

Space Lady said...

Hello, fellow traveler, enjoyed reading this post. I do wonder how accurate the list is, but never mind. It is accurate enough to put things in perspective!