100 Years ago....

[Cheese]

THE YEAR 1905

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1905. One hundred years ago!
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some of 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 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 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.

[Cowperson]

Yet people always pine for "the good ole days."

Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

3. Diarrhea

What a way to go.

Cowperson

[looooob]

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. (Wish they still were.)

none of them surprise me except this one for some reason. I guess I understand that California is pretty far west, but what's the population there now? over 30 million right? holy crap a 25x population increase in that time frame is quite something

[ken0042]

Something doesn't add up with these numbers:

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

However 22¢ per hour, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year comes out to $457.60 per year. One of these "averages" is skewed somehow.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by fotze

Cheese, do you have any personal stories of that time?

Ouch man, ouch.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Something doesn't add up with these numbers:


However 22¢ per hour, 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year comes out to $457.60 per year. One of these "averages" is skewed somehow.

Not so sure that work weeks were the same back then as they are now. Especially without widespread access to electricity and such.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Average wage per hour wouldn't equate to average earnings in a year back then.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

You would have to work 60 hours to make a three minute phone call to New York City from Denver!

[JBR]

It is quite a difference... but 100 years is an awful long time. In Toronto, 39 years seems like 100 years!!

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Yet people always pine for "the good ole days."

Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

3. Diarrhea

What a way to go.

Cowperson

Sh itty!