Monday, January 25, 2010

Changes

I read about some interesting facts about what life was like 100 years ago. It made me take a good look at our life today and how much things have changed in just 100 years.

Here are a few of the facts:
Average life expectancy 47 years
10 mph was the maximum speed limit
Average worker's pay was $200-400 a year.
90% of doctors didn't have a college education.
95% of births were at home.
Sugar 4 cents a pound
Leading cause of death pneumonia and influenza
6% of American were high school graduates.
230 reported murders in all of the United States
Crosswords puzzles, canned beer and iced tea hadn't been invented.
Most women only washed their hair once a month (shampoo usually Borax or egg yolks).
Average hourly wage 22 cents
8% of homes had a telephone.
14% of homes had a bathtub.
Only 8000 cars in the United States with 144 miles of paved roads
No Mother's Day or Father's Day

My hair started itching when I read women usually didn't wash their hair but once a month. On the list for leading cause of deaths heart and stroke was 4th and 5th. Cancer wasn't even on the list. Boy has the world changed in 100 years. Think about what has happened in our lifetime--cell phones, computers, the digital world, knowing what happens almost instantly halfway around the world, not to mention the medical break throughs. I wonder what the difference will be in another 100 years. What do you think? No cars? No printed books? Cancer threat conquered?

3 comments:

Pamela Tracy said...

I think instead of credit cards, we'll wave our palm (or thumb) over a scanner and that's how we'll pay for groceries.

My mother only washed her hair once a week. When I started washing my hair every night, she told me I'd ruin my hair.

Margaret Daley said...

Pamela, that means our fingerprints will all have to be on record. Interesting.

Anonymous said...

I wondered how they managed all those oils on their scalp. I couldn't go past a week without washing my hair!

Those scanning comments sound like a portion from Revelation (Bible). Pretty scarry if you ask me.

Grisel Barros