THE WAY IT WAS A CENTURY AGO.......... 


The year is 1902, one hundred years ago.  What a difference a century makes.  

Here are some statistics for 1902: 
  
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47.

Only 14% of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub, only 8% had a telephone, and
a 3-minute call from Denver to New York cost $11.00 

There only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.  The 
maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. 

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated 
than California.  With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 
21st most populous state in the Union. 

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. 

The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents an hour. 

The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.  A competent 
accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year; a dentist $2,500, a 
veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000, and a mechanical engineer about 
$5,000 per year. 

More than 95% of all births in the U.S. took place at home. 

90% of all physicians had no college education.  Instead, they attended 
medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the 
government as "sub-standard." 

Sugar cost 4 cents a pound, eggs 14 cents a dozen, and coffee cost 15 cents a 
pound. 

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax, or egg yolks 
for shampoo. 

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any 
reason. 

The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 
             1.  Pneumonia and influenza 
             2.  Tuberculosis 
             3.  Diarrhea 
             4.  Heart disease 
             5.  Stroke 

The American flag had 45 stars -- Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and 
Alaska hadn't been admitted yet.The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30. 

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented. 

There was no Mother's Day, or Father's Day. 

One in 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.  Only 6% of all Americans had 
graduated from high school. 

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the 
corner drug store.  According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the 
complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, 
regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of 
health." 

18% of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant, or 
domestic. 

There were only 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.