100 Years Ago

Take a break from the drudgery with some of these jokes, song parodies, anecdotes and assorted humor that has been collected from friends & from websites across the Internet. This humor is light-hearted and sometimes slightly offensive to the easily-offended, so you are forewarned. I have taken care to censor "humor" with reproductive function innuendo and hateful tirades, so it is all workplace-safe. I have also tried to warn of any links that will result in audio clips so you can take appropriate precautions. Please send any potential candidates for this humor page to the e-mail link above.

Humor #1 | Humor #2 | Humor #3

The year is 1902, one hundred years ago... what a difference a century makes.

Here are some U.S. statistics for 1902.

• The average life expectancy in the US was  forty-seven (47).
• Only 14 Percent of the homes in the US 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 US 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 2first most populous state in the Union.
• The tallest structure in  the world was the Eiffel Tower.
• The average wage in the US was 22 cents an  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 in the US took  place at home.
• Ninety percent of all US 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 cost 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 US were:
  • Pneumonia and influenza
  • Tuberculosis
  • Diarrhea
  • Heart disease
  • 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 were no Mother's Day or  Father's Day.
• One in ten US adults couldn't read or write.
• Only 6  percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Marijuana, heroin, and  morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores.
• Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
• There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US (when most people carried guns!).
• There were no computers or E-mail to send this on to you.