The Year 1909...........

[Twisted Titan]

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower !

The average US wage in 1909 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 $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 took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all 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.

The Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4... Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars ....

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 adults couldn't read or write and
only 6% 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'.

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !

Plus one more sad thought .... 95% of the taxes we have now did not exist in 1909.

[Twisted Titan]

95% of the taxes we have now did not exist in 1909.


Because we where still living under the protections of andrew jackson from anulling the charter of the second bank of the united states.

T

[bellevuebully]

A couple more....

Teens knew what a shovel was, and how to use it.

Immorality was called immorality, not liberalism.

Spanking was discipline, not abuse.

Retirement was working 4 days a week, instead of 6.

Criminals were punished and victims were recognized as victims, instead of victims being punished and criminals being recognized as victims.



My, oh my.....what change we have seen in a few years. Having grown up exclusively in this modern age, the 20 somethings of today have no clue about what the world was like for the majority living in the last few centuries (which really only changed slightly from even a millinia ago).

[ShortJohnSilver]

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and
only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

According to government statistics from 2003, which I believe under-report the issue, especially in that it under-counts illegal immigrants, 14% of adults do not have basic "prose" literacy now.

see : http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp

So WTF are we spending so much on education?

[Dogman]

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and
only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

According to government statistics from 2003, which I believe under-report the issue, especially in that it under-counts illegal immigrants, 14% of adults do not have basic "prose" literacy now.

see : http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp

So WTF are we spending so much on education?


Sports ?

[Shami-Amourae]

Sounds more like China than the US today. In the US we have a toaster in ever kitchen, a car in every drive way, and a mini-mall on every corner. Not really much growth opportunities here anymore, time to tear us down and build up another nation. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[ShortJohnSilver]

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and
only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.

According to government statistics from 2003, which I believe under-report the issue, especially in that it under-counts illegal immigrants, 14% of adults do not have basic "prose" literacy now.

see : http://nces.ed.gov/naal/kf_demographics.asp

So WTF are we spending so much on education?


Sports ?


And a dating service for 15 year olds, apparently.

[Ash_Williams]

My, oh my.....what change we have seen in a few years. Having grown up exclusively in this modern age, the 20 somethings of today have no clue about what the world was like for the majority living in the last few centuries (which really only changed slightly from even a millinia ago).

I think it's interesting what people think of as "old fashioned".

As this article points out, drugs were totally legal, while most people have this impression that in early America no one would ever engage in an activity like that because they were too busy wearing suits and praying and saying "sir".

Similarly for prostitution, people think that was never legal. Ask then if they've seen a western and it confuses them for a second then they decide it was only legal in the west.

Abortion? It was unheard of! Except for how it wasn't and any freak-kids were generally killed immediately after birth.

Marriage was often done after the girl was pregnant, not before. As long as the kid was born after the wedding, it was all cool.

The language was fucking terrible. Kids smoke and drank and screwed. People dressed more like bums than in suits all the time.

The more I learn about it the more it seems like some parts of eastern europe... poverty combined with freedom. Rude dirty little kids, getting knocked up too young, etc. Alcoholics being common, being drunk in public no big deal. Interesting times.

[bellevuebully]

My, oh my.....what change we have seen in a few years. Having grown up exclusively in this modern age, the 20 somethings of today have no clue about what the world was like for the majority living in the last few centuries (which really only changed slightly from even a millinia ago).

I think it's interesting what people think of as "old fashioned".

As this article points out, drugs were totally legal, while most people have this impression that in early America no one would ever engage in an activity like that because they were too busy wearing suits and praying and saying "sir".

Similarly for prostitution, people think that was never legal. Ask then if they've seen a western and it confuses them for a second then they decide it was only legal in the west.

Abortion? It was unheard of! Except for how it wasn't and any freak-kids were generally killed immediately after birth.

Marriage was often done after the girl was pregnant, not before. As long as the kid was born after the wedding, it was all cool.

The language was fucking terrible. Kids smoke and drank and screwed. People dressed more like bums than in suits all the time.

The more I learn about it the more it seems like some parts of eastern europe... poverty combined with freedom. Rude dirty little kids, getting knocked up too young, etc. Alcoholics being common, being drunk in public no big deal. Interesting times.


Ash, I appreciate and concur with your comments. I think however, you may have misunderstood the thrust of what I was getting at (I could have been clearer, sometimes when posting I think one gets into a mindset and thinks others can read it,lol.)

I was getting more to the point that a perspective of the order of things has drastically changed in (especially) the western world.

I wasn't really talking about 'old fashioned' behaviours....because as you pointed out, those never really change...man is the same today as he was yesterday. I was pointing out more a change in 'old fashioned' attutudes. Something like these illustrate the changes in attitude I was referring to:

Yesterday....dad puts a roof over my head so it's probably a bad idea to call him an farking idiot.
Today..........Kids cuss their parents out because they know the state will back them when they get disciplined.

Yesterday.....I need a new cell phone...I'm bored with this one.
Today..........Society in general thinks they deserve material possesions rather than the essentials of life....food, shelter

Yesterday.... "I don't need this lame family"
Today...........Community is taken for granted, because when you get sick or lame, instead of your family supporting you, the nanny state and taxpayer will.


The 'yesterdays' are attitudes that have existed for a long, long, long time. The today's are a reletively new new phenomenon.