Maybe A Day Late But ..... (and OT but ... )

THE YEAR 1907

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!

The year is 1907. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!

Here are some US Statistics for the Year 1907 :
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The average life expectancy in the US was 47 years old.

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 people, 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 US was 22 Cents per hour.

The average US Worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year
A dentist made $2,500 per year
A veterinarian $1,500 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 Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND 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 that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

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 only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 US Adults couldn't read or write. (What is our literacy rate now? Anyone know?)

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.'

There were about 230 reported Murders in the ENTIRE USA!

Now I've shared these statisticsw/you and others all over the United States,
possibly the world, in a matter of just Seconds !!!!!!!!!

Just try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years !!!!!!!

IT STAGGERS THE MIND !!!!!!!!!

. . . and, no one knew they had sleep apnea ;<)

"You are getting sleepy . . ."

Interesting stuff, Slinky!

This one caught my eye...

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.

Go Vols!

Yeah, by the end of the list I was thinking the same thing you said, Rip.

Weren't we all??

The current literacy rate in the US, according to the CIA (and who would know better?) is 99%.

Here is a link to the CIA World Factbook page on the US: https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... nt/us.html

Susan

Yer kiddin!!! I was sure I had read somewhere, and was shocked by the current US literacy rate. But maybe what I read had to do w/how barely able to read and write their own names. AND can we really believe the CIA? Isn't one of their supposed fortes disinformation? Or maybe the figures I read had to do w/the ability to read English, rather than just any language.

Thanks, Slinky - that was a great eye-popper!

Mindy

Slinky, I tend to agree with your sense of the reliability of the CIA stats, but they do seem to be accurate, as far as I can tell, and with some caveats.

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 14% of us have no more than the most basic and concrete literacy skills. 29% can perform simple and everyday literacy activities; 44% can perform moderately challenging literacy activities and only 13% of us are considered proficient and can perform complex and challenging literacy activities.

So, perhaps we can all spell our names, but some of us can do little more. (Think about the cash register at your local fast food outlet!)

Susan