Author Topic: What a difference a century makes.  (Read 1253 times)

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Offline nickjtc

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What a difference a century makes.
« on: January 08, 2007, 01:20:14 PM »
Not really funny, but interesting, perhaps.

Here are some statistics from one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.

Ninety percent of all doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

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

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhoea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of  Las Vegas , Nevada , was only 30.

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

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

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the entire US.
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Offline medic09

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Re: What a difference a century makes.
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2007, 05:17:37 PM »
If we could establish a correlation (there isn't), I'd be willing to regress on some of those just to go back towards that last item on the list.
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Offline scunny

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Re: What a difference a century makes.
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2007, 05:34:45 PM »
it doesn't have to be a century. I can remember people didn't lock their houses, a murder was real big news and kids went from house to house over the fences eating anything in their path(well I did)
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Offline Rsnip988

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Re: What a difference a century makes.
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2007, 11:14:27 PM »
I'd be willing to regress on some of those just to go back towards that last item on the list.

Heroin or slaves ?  ;)

the murder rate is astonishing, we need to buid more prisons and exterminate more murderers,


I was for the death sentence but my liberal boss talked me into "life in prison with daily torture", i no more cablt tv and expensive meals, prison used to be for punnishment, lets go back to punish
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Offline kghost

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Re: What a difference a century makes.
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2007, 11:52:29 PM »
No one the death penalty has been applied to has ever commited another crime.

No early release, no pardon, no escaping, no stabbing other inmates, no running prison gangs...nothing.




Bring back the chain gang at least  ;D
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Offline Rsnip988

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Re: What a difference a century makes.
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2007, 12:32:31 AM »
there are still "Work farm" prisons down in Mississippi, without fences, just a "gun line"  cross the line get shot enough said
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