• 1915 was the first full year of World War I, and there were brutal battles on the western front, but the United States would not enter the war for another two years.
• World population – 1.8 billion
• U.S. population – a hundred million
• President – Woodrow Wilson
• Price of a postage stamp – two cents
• Median marriage age: women – 21, men – 24
• Women did not yet have the right to vote.
• Audrey Munson became the first actress to appear nude in a motion picture, with the exception of underground stag films.
• Baseball great Babe Ruth hit his first major league home run.
• After infecting dozens of people, Typhoid Mary was quarantined for life.
• Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call across the nation from NY to CA.
• The one millionth Ford automobile was built.
• My favorite Franz Kafka book was published, The Metamorphosis.
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 Fantasy Romance
Wow! You’d say it was yesterday. It amazes me the huuuuge step forward in technology. I bet aliens are helping scientists, especially in US, otherwise I can find no explanation. From the first telephone call to the myriad of smartphones and gadgets and internet and people going soon to Mars……
Thanks for this brief brief of 1915! I tried to find something for Romania 1915 but except some concerts, nothing extraordinary in Wikipedia and that it was the 2nd year of war.
I only saw a couple of references to Romania, and it was spelled Rumania. One was where they were considering loaning money to Britain. Hmmmm. Thanks for stopping by, Carmen.
I love the picture! Real vintage!
I know, right? How stylish she is!
Women did not yet have the right to vote. Wow, that would be the deal-breaker for me right there, LOL. Such a simpler time though, although I’m sure living through WWI was terrifying. I do so love glimpses into the past. Thanks for another great one!
I understand, Mae. It’s hard to believe that’s such a modern right. Time seems to fly.
Happy New Year, Flossie. You picked a good year to look at as I love the fashions, but the first world war swiped grief internationally over that generation of women. So many lost lovers, husbands, brothers, fathers, the world was a different place five years on and marriage no longer an option for many women because the population demographics were changed. That meant women needed work to support themselves, society needed those single women to fill the jobs and emancipation took a big step forward. In the early 30’s when my gran married she got the sack from the factory she worked in, as her husband was meant to support her. It was the rules. Interesting times.
Happy New Year, Daisy! Yes, women’s lives have changed dramatically in the past century, much of it resulting from war. Prior, middle class women generally worked in the home, sometimes their fingers to the proverbial bone. It’s amazing that down through history people were accustomed to the mores of the times, as startling as some of those rules seem today. I wonder what future generations will consider our “unthinkables.” It’s great to have you stop by.