How quickly things change

flaroyale · October 2003

> The Year 1903
>
> This ought to boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
> The year is 1903, one hundred years ago... what a difference a
century
> makes.
>
> Here are the US statistics for 1903....
>
> The average life expectancy in the US was forty seven (47).
>
> 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 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.
>
> More than 95 percent of all births in the US took place at home.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.
>
> Canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.
>
> There were no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
>
> One in ten US adults couldn't read or write.
>
> Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
>
> 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 only about 230 reported murders in the entire US.
>
> Just think what it will be like in another 100 years from now. It
boggles
> the mind.
>
>

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