THE YEAR 1904
Maybe this will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1904, one hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for 1904:
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.
With a mere 1.4 million residents, 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 an 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. physicians had no college
education. Instead, they attended 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 prohibiting poor people from
entering the country for any reason.
The 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 iced tea hadn't
been invented.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two of 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated high
school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available
over the counter at corner drugstores.
According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the
complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the
stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect
guardian of health."
Eighteen percent of households in the U.S had at least
one full-time servant or domestic.
There were only about 230 reported murders in the
entire U.S.
And I forwarded this from someone else without typing
it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds!
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100
years .... it staggers the mind.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Dani
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