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How the World Has Changed in 100 Years

ByJohn P.

Farmer’s AlmanacOk. This info is old, but I came across it and thought it would be fun to resurrect it once again.

There have been all sorts of claims as to the year these stats originated, but generally I believe they are from 1903. I have not vetted any of the “facts” here, but they do seem to pass the “gut-check” for reliability.

  • The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
  • Only 14% of the homes had a bathtub.
  • Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.00.
  • There were 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.
  • The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
  • The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year. The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
  • 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% of all births took place at home.
  • 90% 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 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 prohibiting poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
  • Five leading causes of death 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 to the Union yet.
  • The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30.
  • 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.
  • 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 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 local corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and 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 help.
  • There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
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John P.

John P. is a former CEO, former TV Show Host, and the Founder and Wizard behind Texas Metal Works. You can find him on X, Facebook and LinkedIn. Feel free to send shoutouts, insults, and praise.

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7 Comments

  3. That was quite interesting! I’m using this information for an essay right now, with reference to you of course. :)

  4. I love looking at lists like this! I was a little upset when I read about crossword puzzles, as my grandmother was born in 1910. I said, aloud to my monitor, “My gosh! They better hurry up!” ;) Then I went to find out when they were invented! And I found this: The History of Crossword Puzzles Just in time for Grandmamom to grow up and come to love them so! :D

  5. After reading through the list it’s quite impressive but most of the change occurred during the first 50 or 60 years of the 100 years. The changes over the last 40 years have been mostly enhancements to the progress of the first 60 years. Phones begot cell phones, TVs begot HDTVs, computers begot personal computers, highways begot carpool lan3s, hospital births begot epidurals and on and on it goes with progress from pre-1960 until now.

    The best thing I saw the list is that we don’t die from diarrhea anymore. The most horrific thing I saw was that dentists made half the salary of what Mechanical Engineers made, as it should be, but now the guys that haven’t really come up with tartar control anything and stick sharp objects (engineered by M.E.s) in your mouth probably make 3 times the salary of Mechanical Engineers. And yes my under grad degree is BSME. :)

  6. The sad thing is that I’d bet that 2/10 people would still fail to read coherently, or read and write fluent english =/

  7. Might be old, but still pretty interesting! It makes one wonder if they thought about how different (and “better”) their lives were than people who lived 100 years before them. Things change, but maybe not as much as we think, huh?

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