I got this via email from my aunt and in reading it, was just amazed. I want to remember this 25 or 50 years from now…
THE YEAR 1905
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
–Wow! They’d think we were super-old!
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
–Ewwww!
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
–And I can’t imagine life today without the Internet, IM, Email, and my cell phone. I’ll bet soon, it’ll be 1%, but we’ll all have mobile phones.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
–Dude! And we complain when we call during “peak” time and it’s $.25/minute.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
–I swear there are 8,000 cars in my neighborhood alone. 🙂
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents an hour.
— What will $.22 buy these days? Anything?
The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
— Dude… most of us make that in a day… some in an hour… some in a second.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home .
— No thanks! I’ll take a hospital!
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
— Ewwww! Every day, shampoo and conditioner!
The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
— Well, #4 & 5 are still pretty high up there!
The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.
— Can’t imagine!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented.
— What would I do without iced tea?!?!?!
There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
— So, no obligatory gifts. 😉
Two of 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write.
— And, that’s different, how?
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated high school.
— Ditto my comment above.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores.
— D’oh!
Eighteen percent of households in the U.S had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
— So mine aren’t full time, only coming once every 2 weeks, but heh!
There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
— Weren’t there that many in Durham alone last year? 😉