[lfjokes] What a difference a century makes

[Adam Shand]

I can't vouch for the truth of this but ...

From: bob reid <bobr at goeaston.net>

What a difference a century makes . . . .

* The average life expectancy in the US was forty-seven.

* 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 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 an hour.  The average US worker
  made between $200 and $400 per year.

* More the 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, either as travelers or immigrants.

* The five leading causes of death in the US 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.

* Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet.  Scotch
  tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

* 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 women'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."

* Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time
  servant or domestic.

* There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.