Considering a lot of people live past 100 these days, a century just doesn’t seem as long as it use to. So I got these statistics in my e-mail from 1906 and they made me smile. I left a funny comment at the end too.
I realized what a waste it is to become frustrated in your life when so very much can change as you’re blinking. You have a whole life (though not quite 100 years) to see everything around you emerge.
Be a part of making those changes be for the better
and allow patience to quiet you, since what you want may yet come to be
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THE USA IN 1906:
The average life expectancy here was only 47 years.
Just 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a… bathtub.
Only 8 percent of our homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars in the entire USA
…and only 144
miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities? 10 mph
What did Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee share?
EACH was more heavily populated than California!
But it wasn’t just those four either…
California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the entire world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
More than 95 percent of all births here took place at HOME.
Sugar cost four cents a pound. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women washed their hair only once per month
…and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law saying the poor could no longer ENTER their country.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada? 30 people!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from HIGH SCHOOL.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter
…local corner drug store pharmacists would tell you something like:
Heroin clears the complexion…regulates the stomach and bowels,
and is a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking?)
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE USA!
[and even using a bucket of water instead of plumbing
…I still can’t get over only 14 percent of our homes having a bathtub
or imagine this conversation:
"Where’s your Pa, Honey?"
"He died last year"
"Well, 45’s a mite long life to live. What killed him?"
"The diarrhea done got him."
"Didn’t you have no heroin to help settle his bowels?"]
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