OT:Comparisons between 1904 and 2004

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Oct 22, 2002
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The year is 1904...One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the US statistics for 1904:

*The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

*Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.

*Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A 3 minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

*There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 mil es 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 U..S. was 22 cents an hour.

*The average U.S. 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 in the U.S. took place at home.

*90 percent of all U.S. 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 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 prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason.

*The five leading causes of death in the U.S. 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!!!

*Crossword puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented.

*There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

*Two of 10 U.S.. adults couldn't read or write.

*Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated 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 bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)

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

*There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.

*An e-mail from someone---- copied and placed here in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years...it staggers the mind.
 
We had our daughter at home. It needs to be done more. Sometimes the way things were, were that way for a reason.
 
One of today's problems is not only are we forgetting the good reasons for doing things a certain way, but we're also losing the ability to ascertain good from evil to an ever increasing extent.

Larry S.
 
While not advocating rampant immorality or stating that everything is excuseable, I have to say that part of the reason right and wrong are vague notions to some people, is that what they're defined as has changed. Some of the heaviest Bible thumpers I've known in my life were so extreme in their racism as to be almost comical--I say almost, because there was a time when that mentality ruled the day.

Today, even though we lead (most of us) fairly sedentary lifestyles indoors, big muscles and tanned bodies are the sexy ideal, making it look like you're tough and outdoorsy even if you're not. Wasn't always the case--there was a time when pot bellies, chicken legs and ghost-white skin were the traits to have, and if you had big arms and calloused hands you were a second class citizen. George Washington was 6'3" and had square shoulders and a barrel chest, because when he wasn't being the General/President he was farming! Look at the portraits painted of him though--no shoulders, big gut, chicken legs. If he'd been depicted, in that time, as a physically powerful specimen, then he wouldn't have looked the part of a gentleman and other world leaders wouldn't have taken him seriously.

Danny (on another thread) was saying that in Japan, speaking out against authority is taboo. See, to my mind, that's WORSE than being illegal, because it's not just something that people in power don't want you to do, but it's accepted by the unempowered that it's not something they SHOULD do. However, they feel that this is right and normal, and wouldn't thank me if I tried to go over there and liberate them.

How many people were shouting "save the whales" 100 years ago?

My point with all of this is that the world of right and wrong, should and shouldn't, taboo and fashionable is and always will be changing; and you'll note it even more as the world keeps getting smaller and cultures collide. It's not that it's not a problem, but it's nothing new.
 
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