> >>> > >>> It May Be Hard to Believe That A Scant 100 Years Ago... > >>> > >>> The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven. > >>> > >>> Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States 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 ten mph. > >>> > >>> Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily > >populated > >>> than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only > >>> the twenty-first most populous state in the Union. > >>> > >>> The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. > >>> > >>> The average wage in the U.S. was twenty-two 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 > >>> $2500 per year, a veterinarian between $1500 and $4000 per year, and a > >>> mechanical engineer about $5000 per year. > >>> > >>> More than 95 percent of all births in the United States 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 > >>> 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, either as travelers or immigrants. > >>> > >>> 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. > >>> > >>> Drive-by-shootings -- in which teenage boys galloped down the street on > >>> horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything > >>> else that caught their fancy -- were an ongoing problem in Denver and > >>> other cities in the West. > >>> > >>> The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert > >>> community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their > families. > >>> > >>> Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch > >>> tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented. > >>> > >>> There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. > >>> > >>> One in ten U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all > >>> Americans had graduated from high school. > >>> > >>> Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt > >to > >>> become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the > >>> sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended slipping bromide -- > which > >>> was thought to diminish sexual desire -- into the woman's drinking > water. > >>> > >>> 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 the > >>> bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health. > >>> > >>> Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine. > >>> > >>> Punch card data processing had recently been developed, and early > >>> predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the > >>> government to help compile the 1900 census. > >>> > >>> Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one > >>> full-time servant or domestic. > >>> > >>> There were about 230 reported murders in the U.S. annually. > >>> > >>>