1905: What Was It Like?
They never had a car until Dad was a teenager
I often wished my father were still alive so I could ask him questions I never did when he was here... This my my father's world when he was born!
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1905. Now over 100 years ago and how tings have chaned, read and think about the numbers!
This is when my father, Paul William Liles was born in Arkansas. Sometimes I think I have it hard???
Census Reports
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 three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities wa s 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
San Francisco fire (from the earthquake) of 1906
Payscales:
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per 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.
Life
More than 95 percent of all births in t! he U.S. took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college educat! ion.
Instead, they attended so-called 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 that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
1906 Rolls Royce
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
Our Country:
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 only 30!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invent! ed yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 U.S. 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 the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacist said, "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 help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.!