Happy New Year everybody! We hope you had a wonderful time during the holidays. Have you already made your New Year’s resolutions? Before you start worrying about all of the things you have to do this year, let’s take a look at what life was like in 1914:
- Average life expectancy was 52 years for men and 56.8 years for women.
- The U.S. population had reached 99 million.
- There were only 1.7 million cars registered in the U.S.
- Union wages in New York City were:
– Bricklayers at $0.75 per hour
– Carpenters at $0.65 per hour
– Painters at $0.50 per hour
– Plumbers at $0.69 per hour
- Farmers were paid $21.05 per month with board. Without board, they received $29.88 per month.
- World War I began on July 28, 1914. More than 70 million military personnel were mobilized and more than 9 million combatants died during this war.
- The first traffic light was installed in ClevelandOhio on August 5, 1914.
- The number one song title in 1914 was “It’s A Long Way To Tipperary”, by the American Quartet.
- Henry Ford made improvements to his assembly line and was able to assemble a Model T in 1.5 hours. He was able to push production past 500,000 units, while dropping the price of a Model T to $440! Workers wages were raised to $5 per day – equivalent to the weekly earnings of an industrial worker in Great Britain. This meant that unskilled and semi-skilled workers had twice the purchasing power of their American counterparts and six times the purchasing power of comparable workers in Britain.
- Edgar Rice Burroughs created a new folk hero for the world: “Tarzan of the Apes”. This character starred in 25 books which were translated into 56 languages.
- On July 4th, a black boxer named Jack Johnson successfully defended his heavyweight title against Jim Jeffries. Congress responded by passing a law, valid for decades, which forbade interstate transportation of prizefight films. The law was enacted because they considered these films to be evil and if they showed a black man winning against a white, it could incite race riots.
- The Bureau of Internal Revenue issued the first income tax form, the 1040. Individuals paid one percent on income over $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples) with an additional surtax between one and six percent, depending on income level.
- The Panama Canal opened on August 5th. It took 34 years to build and cost over 27,000 workers their life.
- On May 21st, Carl Wickman founded Greyhound Buslines in Hibbing, Minnesota.
- The average costs for these items in 1914 were:
– Sirloin steak at $0.26 a pound
– Eggs at $0.35 a dozen
– Milk at $0.36 per gallon
– Loaf of bread at $0.06 each
– Coffee at $0.30 a pound
– Gasoline at $0.15 per gallon
– Cars at $550.00 each
– Houses at $6,156.00 each
- The first feature-length silent film comedy was released on December 21st. It starred Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charles Chaplin.
- In 1914, about 60% of children were enrolled in school. Close to 13% of students earned a high school diploma and less than 3% earned a bachelors degree in college.
- Men wore sack coats or lounge coats for most informal and semi-formal occasions. Three piece suits consisted of a sack coat with a matching vest and trousers. Trousers were ankle length with cuffs. The gap between the short trousers was filled with short gaiters or spats.
- Most homes had no indoor plumbing. Even by 1940, only 55% of homes had complete indoor plumbing!
- A new fashion trend began in the spring of 1914. It was called the “war crinoline” and featured a bell shaped skirt (down to the top of their shoes) and a wide over skirt. Sloped shoulders and wide collars were in style, too. Critics considered the use of so much fabric to be wasteful during wartime and called for a more conservative use of cloth.
- Tony Jannus conducted the first commercial airlines flight on January 1st. It was a 23 minute flight between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida.
What a difference a century makes! What would your life be like without a bathtub, car, radio, smart phone or television set?
