1916
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• The six day Easter Rising occurred in Ireland, resulting in nearly 500 deaths and a loss of the bid for independence. Over a dozen of the insurgents were executed, including U.S. citizen Thomas Clarke, and many more imprisoned. Yeats wrote the poem Easter, 1916, about the trouble.
• The Mexican Pancho Villa raided a town in New Mexico and had to be routed out by the U.S. Cavalry and General Pershing, who went on to become instrumental in WWI.
• U.S. population – not quite a hundred and two million
• President – Woodrow Wilson, who was instrumental in creating the Federal Reserve System
• Price of a postage stamp – 2 cents, and price of a loaf of bread – 7 cents
• Price of a pound of coffee – 15 cents
• Average price of a new car – $400
• The Rose Bowl became an annual game.
• Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, which primarily deals with the force of gravity.
• Anarchist and Russian emigrant Emma Goldman was arrested for speaking out in public in favor of birth control. She supported other issues such as atheism and free love. Activist Margaret Sanger was also arrested for supporting birth control, considered an obscenity.
• Jazz and ragtime music were on the rise.
• Irish writer James Joyce published his first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, with protagonist Stephen Dedalus.
What do you think? What would you like and dislike about living a hundred years ago?
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Romance
I think, depending on the location, I would have liked the simplicity of the era, but there was obviously a lot of hardship and strife, too. And the role of women, well….I don’t know that I would have adapted, LOL. Although I guess a lot of it would related to being born in that era.
An intriguing post, Flossie!
I know, Mae== I think the same mixed emotions. If we could only feel the era like virtual reality and then come back home to more modern conditions!
I would have liked the Era too. I do understand all the hardships. I guess being raised in a home where dad worked and paid the bills and mom did al the household stuff, cooked, made our clothes and took care of us until i was about 14 the way women were regarded wouldn’t be an issue for me. I do think I would miss air conditioning though. Great post! You are a Mecca of information.
Interesting perspective, Cathy. And I think you’re right about that AC!
My maternal grandfather and my father-in-law were both cavalrymen during this time period. Thanks for an interesting article. And, my goodness how prices have increased.
I bet your grandfather and father=in-law had some interesting stories to tell, Loretta. Boy, prices today are unreal.
People have a tendency to look back, not in anger, but with despondency. All eras have their pros and contras.
Perhaps it was an era pollution free, with less dramatic weather changes. Like you, Flossie, I wish I could just go for a short visit, in time to check how things were.
For Europe, it was a time of war – World War I. So, I imagine people around here had a lot of shortages of all kinds, human lives included.
I imagine so too, Carmen. With Europe being so war torn, it had to be a devastating time for people to try and endure.