100 Years Ago

• 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.

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