10th April 2014 - Of Fords and Flippancies

Thought for the day : "It is best to avoid Cliches like the plague"

I was delving through some oldish emails as I do on occasion, when trying to sort out the Outlook box and see if I have missed anything while procrastinating and sorting rather than dealing...  good think that I am not still in business - as between social media and sorting I rarely get much actually achieved. But as I delved I found a small missive from my brother in law form the United States and though I had glanced at it when it arrived, I had naturally stored it for future consumption...  

And so I share it today - for no other reason than I found it interesting. It is only just over a 100 years ago that this fine model Ford was produced... but, though it is particularly pitched at American History, some of the facts about 1910 may surprise...

The year is 1910, just over one hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!

Here are some statistics for the Year 1910:

***********************************

• The average life expectancy for men was 47 years.
• Fuel for this car was sold in drug stores only.
• 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 US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour.
• The average US 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.
• There was no such thing as under arm deodorant or tooth paste.
• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
• The American flag had 45 stars.
• 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 10 adults couldn't read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
• Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
•  There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.!
  (yes, people have changed) almost everyone owned a gun!

The five leading causes of death were:

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