• World population – 1.75 billion
• U.S. population – 92 million
• President – William Howard Taft
• Average wage – 22 cents an hour
• Price of a dozen eggs – 14 cents
• Average male life expectancy – 47 years
• Percentage of babies born at home – 95%
• Percentage of homes with a telephone – 8%
• Percentage of homes with a bathtub – 14%
• Miles of paved roadways – 144 miles
• Number of cars – 8,000
• Number of cigarettes produced – 9 billion
• The earth passed through the tail of Halley’s Comet, causing many people to fear a fatal collision or death by poisonous gases.
What do you think? What would you like and dislike about living way back then?
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
Fascinating post, Flossie. I don’t think I’d have liked life back then. Certainly not from a medical point of view as I know I would have died without the treatments available now. One thing though, the world must have seemed a much bigger place as travel was slower and fewer people had seen far flung parts of the world.
That’s so true about the medical aspect. Daisy, what a great insight regarding how much bigger the world must have seemed to people back then. People tended to stay around their birthplace much more.
an interesting overview of the past! Thanks for sharing!
Well, each era has its glamour. When you have no idea what a PC is or a TV or a cell phone you will consider yours a good period. But if I were swept back in time I’d definitely miss my PC and all my books.
Some of our favorite books would not have been written yet! That’s a strange thought, Carmen. Many of them would already be in existence, though, since we love the classics.
You are right. and, perhaps, we wouldn’t have so many problems finding publishers for our own books.
I hadn’t thought of that, Carmen. Maybe so!
Very interesting facts. I have lived in rural Appalachia, so I have hauled water from the well, skinned rabbits and plucked chickens, churned butter, used the outhouse and chamber pot, and attended more funerals as a child then the law should allow. All this makes me a very grateful woman. Grateful for medical advances, running water, grocery stores, and a head full of beautiful memories of running barefoot, chasing lightening bugs, snapping beans with Grandma, having breakfast at four in the morning with Grandpa and my uncles before they went to the coal mines, then going back to bed until daylight. While progress is a wonderful thing, it often overshadows the best parts of history.
I have never skinned a rabbit or plucked a chicken, Linda, but I did hold a turkey in my lap for about an hour while the menfolk were out chasing whatever varmint was trying to kill it. That’s a funny memory–me and ole Tom. Lightning bugs and shelling peas with my mother and sister are other good memories. You have a great background, Linda.
I was 12 yrs old before I lived in a house with an indoor bathroom and running water. I’ve helped slaughter hogs and rendered the fat, I’ve picked, sewed and hung tobacco, helped cooked cane juice until it became syrup, skinned rabbits, and wore hand-me-down clothes. Turpentine was used to purify cuts, Vicks Salve and Castor Oil was the cure-all for everything else. Fun was wading in the ditches when it rained, listening to my uncles play their guitars, getting to lick the bowl when my granny made a cake. Life was hard, but those hardships make me appreciate the advancements and modernizations that I get to enjoy today. Interesting facts about life in 1910. Thanks for sharing.
I used to love playing in the rivulets when it rained. To me they were the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. I had musical uncles and grandfather too, but none of their musical talent trickled down to me. I love hearing about the old remedies. Thanks for commenting, Loretta.
It’s mind-boggling to think how much the world has changed. I think I would have liked the smaller populations and open land, but it’s hard to imagine medical care and even things we take for granted, like a phone. Of all of the stats you shared the most jaw-dropping to me as the amount of cigarettes sold! It’s no wonder the average male only lived till he was 47. Yikes!
Change comes faster these days for sure, and it boggles my mind to think that the way people lived back then was perfectly normal and modern to them. What will it be like 100 years from now?
Great post. Its hard to fathom those statistics today
Sure is, thanks for commenting, Cathy.
Very interesting. I think living in those times would be interesting and cool, but then I think of how much I love my technology. I do believe times were better in the way of family life back in older days (50s), as we weren’t glued to TVs and video games or other technologies.
You’re so right– technology has changed our lives so drastically since 1910. It would be quite a different world than what we’re used to. Thanks so much for commenting.