Memory Lane - 100 Years Ago

I have a notebook from my Grandfather Jarvis’ store in Hamburg in the early 20th Century and prices seem so unreal. I also have a notebook from my Grandfather Deal’s farm in Drew County and it dates times in the 1890s. Prices included were for a quart of oil for the lamps, a pound of sugar, a pound of coffee and a jar of snuff. These notebooks are in my keepsakes somewhere.

What 100 years will do!

I know a few of you were not around just after the turn of the last century. The year is 1902, 100 years ago. What a difference a century makes. Here are the U.S. statistics for 1902:

1. The average life expectancy in the United States was 47. That’s not a typo, that’s 47. (Mainly because of side effects caused by 22 )
    
2. Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.
    
3. Only eight percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.
    
4. There were only 8,000 cars in the United States and only 144 miles of paved roads.
    
5. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 miles per hour.
    
6. 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.
    
7. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
    
8. The average wage in the United States was 22 cents an hour.
    
9. The average United States worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
    
10. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 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.
     
11. More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home.
     
12. Ninety percent of all United States physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as substandard.
     
13. Sugar cost 4 cents a pound. Eggs were 14 cents a dozen. Coffee cost 15 cents a pound.
     
14. Most women only washed their hair once a month and they used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
     
15. Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.
     
16. The five leading causes of death in the United States were:
    
    1. Pneumonia and influenza;
    2. Tuberculosis;
    3. Diarrhea;
    4. Heart disease;
    5. Stroke.
     
17. The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.
     
18. The population of Las Vegas, Nev., was 60.
     
19. Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn’t been invented.
     
20. There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
     
21. One in 10 United States adults couldn’t read or write. Only six percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
     
22. 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."
     
23. Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
     
24. There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire United States!