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The average life expectancy in the
U.S. was 47.
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40% of the population lived or
worked on farms.
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Only 14 percent of the homes in the
U.S. had a bathtub.
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Only eight percent of the homes had
a telephone.
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A three-minute call from Denver to
New York City cost eleven dollars.
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There were only 8,000 cars in the
U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
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The maximum speed limit in most
cities was 10 mph.
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Alabama,
Mississippi,
Iowa, and Tennessee were each
more heavily populated than California, which, with a mere 1.4
million people, was ranked 21st.
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The average wage in the U.S. was 22
cents per hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per
year.
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A competent accountant earned about
$2000 per year; a dentist $2,500, a veterinarian $1,500, and a
mechanical engineer perhaps $5,000.
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More than 95 percent of all births
in the U.S.
took place at home (I was born at home even in 1933 –Ed.).
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Ninety percent of all U.S. medical
doctors had no college education.
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Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs
were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
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Most women only washed their hair
once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
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The five leading causes of death in
the U.S. were: pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhea,
heart disease and stroke.
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The American flag had 46 stars.
Oklahoma was admitted late in the year, but New Mexico (1912),
Arizona (1912), Hawaii (1959), and Alaska (1959) were still
territories.
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Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and
ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
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There was no Mother's Day or
Father's Day.
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Two out of every 10 U.S. adults
couldn't read or write.
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In Los Angeles, if you spoke Spanish
in your home, you would be called a “cholo” by your “gringo”
neighbors.
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Only six percent of all Americans
had graduated from high school.
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Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were
all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.
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Bullock's opened in March in Los
Angeles, and Neiman-Marcus opened in September in Dallas.
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U.S. automobile production reached
43,000, up from 25,000 in 1905.
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Milwaukee toolmaker William A.
Davidson quit his foreman’s job to join his brothers Arthur and
Walter at the four-year-old Harley-Davidson Motor Co., and the firm
was incorporated in September.
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Britain and Ireland had 23,100 miles
of operating railway, Canada had 22,400, the United States 237,000.
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Alois Alzheimer (b. Germany, June
14, 1864, d. December 19, 1915) describes the pathology that in 1910
is given the name Alzheimer's disease.