Just for fun, consider the following statistics for the year 1909 and imagine life just 100 years ago:
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old. (That’s the age of Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jody Foster.)
Only 14% of the homes in the U.S had a bathtub.
Only 8% of the homes had a telephone and a three-minute call from Denver to New York City Cost $11.
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.
Hudson Motor Car Company was founded.
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 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in the U.S. was 22¢ per hour. The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
- A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year,
- a dentist made $2,500 per year,
- a veterinarian $1,500 per year,
- a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95% of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
90% 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 but were yet to be regulated.
Sugar cost 4¢ a pound. Eggs were 14¢ a dozen. Coffee was 15¢ a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo . . . or cornmeal as a dry shampoo in the winter.
The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
- Pneumonia and influenza
- Tuberculosis
- Diarrhea
- Heart disease
- Stroke
People born that year included:
- Senator and US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater
- Writers Wallace Stegner and James Agee
- Musician and entertainer Victor Borge and musicians Mother Maybell Carter, Benny Goodman, Burl Ives
- Actors James Mason, Ann Sothern, Carmen Miranda, Jessica Tandy, Errol Flynn, Ruby Keeler, José Ferrer, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
- Film director Elia Kazan
- Painter Francis Bacon
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 ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.
There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
20% of U.S. adults couldn’t read or write.
Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
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Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. A pharmacist quote: “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 only about 230 reported murders in the entire United States
Construction began on Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece Robie House.
