
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the
year 1905:
- The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47
years.
- Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a
bathtub.
- Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
- A three-minute call from Denver to New York
City cost eleven dollars.
- There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
of paved roads in the U.S.
- 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 people, 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 per
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 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 in the U.S.
took place at home.
- Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no
college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of
which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."
- Sugar cost four cents a pound.
- Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
- Most women washed their hair only once a
month, and they 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 in the U.S. were:
- Pneumonia and influenza Tuberculosis Diarrhea
Heart disease Stroke
- The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union
yet.
- The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only
30!
- Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea
hadn't been invented yet.
- There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
- Two out of every ten U.S. 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 a pharmacist said, "Heroin clears
the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels,
and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!)
- Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had
at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
- There were about 230 reported murders in the
entire U.S.