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What Was America Like In 1917

Can you believe that we’re already in the year of 2017? Wow, how time flies! I know that all of you have big plans for the New Year, but before you all get started, let’s take a look at what America was like in 1917. us-flag-big

• Men had an average life expectancy of 48.4 years and women could expect to live 54 years.
• The population in the U.S. rose to 103 million.
• The average height of a man was 5ft 6 inches in the U.S.
• About 4.7 million cars were registered in the U.S.
• 735,020 Model T Fords were built and the Runabout version sold for only $500!
• On April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declared war on Germany and joined the allies in World War I.
• In December of 1917, Father Flanagan founded Boys Town, an orphanage for boys in Nebraska. He started this fine organization with a $90 loan to rent a boarding house. It is now one of the largest child care agencies in the country and touches the lives of over 2 million people each year.

cents • Union wages in New York City were:
– Bricklayers at $0.75 per hour
– Carpenters at $0.69 per hour
– Painters at $0.63 per hour
– Plumbers at $0.69 per hour
– Structural steel workers at $0.69 per hour

• American farmers had an average pay of $29.00 per month with board. Without board, their average pay was $40.00 per month.
• California’s minimum wage was at $0.16 per hour.
• On March 17th, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck the city of Long Beach, California, and killed an estimated 140 people.
• Nora Bayes had the number one selling hit record titled “Over There”. This is an interesting song about us joining the war and here are just a few of the lyrics;

“Over there, over there
Sent the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming
The ear drums rum-tumming
Everywhere
So prepare, say a prayer
Sent the word, send the word to beware
We’ll be over, we’re coming over
And we won’t come back till it’s over
Over there”

This song was pro-war. Can you imagine the “Black Eyed Peas” singing a song like this today? . . . lol.

• Over 60% of children were enrolled in school. Only about 15% of them earned a high school diploma.
• As World War I got going in full swing, a cotton
shortage developed. Kimberly-Clark had a new product called “Cellucotton” that was similar to cotton, but was made of wood cellulose. This was used as pads in bandages, filters in gas masks and stuffing for emergency jackets. When the war ended, the company had a huge surplus of Cellucotton and started looking for new uses. An official for the “American Fund for the French Wounded” shared the following information: During the war, French nurses had used this product during their periods. They found it made excellent sanitary pads that could be used and didn’t have to be washed but could be disposed of. And, now you know how Kotex sanitary napkins were invented.
• The average prices for these items were:
– Round steak sold for 29 cents a pound
– Eggs were 48 cents a dozen
– Milk was 45 cents a gallon
– A loaf of bread cost 8 cents
– Coffee was 30 cents a pound
– A ten pound bag of potatoes cost 43 cents
– Gasoline was 43 cents a gallon
– A first class postage stamp was 2 cents
– A movie ticked cost 7 cents
• Jeannette Rankin, of Montana, became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
• On June 7th, Melvin Jones and a number of other Chicago businessmen founded the Lions Club International.
• Only 24.3 percent of homes in the U.S. had electricity.
• If you needed to make a phone call, you had to wait in a long line. The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that there was only one telephone for every 113,000 people!
• The National Hockey League was formed on November 26th.
• Feeling cold and want to zip up your jacket? You can thank Gideon Soundback, who lived in New Jersey, for inventing the modern zipper in 1917. He also invented the manufacturing machine for the new zippers.

American life has really changed over the last 100 years, hasn’t it? But, I still wonder how anyone could have ever existed without a radio, TV or smart phone.