As we begin the new year of 2019, let’s take a fun look back one hundred years. It is so easy to forget how many things have changed over the years and the advances that were made, many in a primitive way, that would have a huge effect on how we live today.
First, automobiles. While there some other brands it was Ford’s Model T that really created the driving craze. In 1919 you could by one for less than $800. Because it was affordable, the common man could nowdrive his own car and no more horse and buggy.
In 1919 gas stations were a rarity. You actually had to go to your local stor, buy gas in a can and fill the tank yourself.
When it came to drug stores back then among the over the counter drugs, anyone could by were cocaine, heroin, morphine and other potent drugs that were supposedly ‘good for what ails you”.
How getting your mail? Back then it was delivered by trains, trucks, even horse and buggy. It would be 1919 when Air Mail delivery, begun strictly as an experiment, would begin. Just think what it was like to get mail back in that time.
Out west a small little town in the middle of nowhere had just over 2,000 residents. Today Las Vegas, Nevada is one of the busiest, hippest, entertainment capitols of the world. Today the Las Vegas area is home to over 2 million people.
In 1919 there was no Empire State Building or Sears Tower or even a place called Dubai. The tallest structure in the world in 1919 was the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France that stood an “astonishing” 984 feet high.
The flu pandemic of 1918 actually killed an astounding 50 million people globally. Victims died within a few days or even hours upon showing symptoms. It would be in the 1940’s before vaccinations against influenza became widespread.
Transportation wise only New York and Boston had subway systems in 1919. With more and more cars on the road, the trolley car became the main mode of transportation in major cities.
Prohibition was a year away and would last from 1920 to 1933 thanks to the Anti-Saloon League’s successful campaignd for the 18th Amendment. Members cited concerns about the effects of alcohol on political corruption, spousal abuse, and public health, among other consequences.
Back in 1919 it cost ten cents to go to a movie. They were all silent back then and two of the biggest star of the silent era were Charlie Chaplin and the girl dubbed “America’s Sweetheart”, Mary Pickford.
In 1919 there was no radio and of course no television…..Oh the horror! People read books, listened to recordings, played games and actually spent family time together. It would be another few years before the medium of radio came along.
As they would in WW II, with the advent of World War I, many women took on clerical or factory jobs left vacant by male soldiers. Women also volunteered for active duty for the first time ever and over 20,000 served as nurses in the Army and Navy.
It was also a time when the advent of daylight savings in 1918 came to be.With the Standard Time Act of 1918, the country officially operated on an established clock. The new law created federally mandated time zones and daylight saving time,
While unemployment was around 2% in 1919 there was no minimum wage law. This meant employers could pay their help whatever they desired and working conditions in most places was far from safe. In 1938 the minimum wage law was passed and set at a whopping 25 cents an hour.
There is a lot more about what it was like 100 years ago and how subsequent changes made the world we live in today possible. If you want to find out more go to: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g5177/life-100-years-ago/?slide=19
