119 Reflections--1917

1917--Reflections--One Hundred Years Ago

This has not been one of the better years at our house. Seems like every appliance that could be replaced has been replaced. A water leak in the upstairs guest bath took out part of the kitchen ceiling and played havoc with the electrical wiring. Wiring fixed in the kitchen but shorted out other areas. This happened in May. It is December. Once the hall light was rewired so that it no longer continued to turn off the computer, printer, and calculator in the adjoining office, we find we have no front porch light. Fingers crossed that by the new year it is all sorted out. I got tired of hearing myself whining and decided to look back 100 years. What was it like then? 

Here a few interesting facts about 1917 that made me decide I’ll take today’s problems.

• WW I--America enters the war sending 14,000 men to France; the Selective Service Act passed for compulsory enlistment – over 200,000 go overseas.

• Woodrow Wilson was president.
• The British Royal family because of its ties to German adopts the name, Windsor.
• First tank use as Britain breaks through German lines. 

• Average life expectancy--47 years.
• If you had a car, you bought the fuel at the drugstore.
• Maximum speed limit--10 mph. 
• Some things don’t change: Tesla v. Edison and Converse All Stars. 

• 14% of homes had a bathtub.
• 8% had telephones; today 80% have smartphones.
• The average wage was 25 cents per hour, thus making about $300/year
• 95% of all births took place at home.
• Sugar was 4 cents/pound and eggs were 14 cents/dozen.
• First class mail saw an increase from 2 to 3 cents; now, just buy “Forever” stamps.
• The leading causes of death were pneumonia, TB, heart disease, and stroke. (The big influenza outbreak did not make epidemic proportions until 1918.)
• The population in Las Vegas was 30!
• Summer race riots--in Texas, Illinois, and Missouri; a “silent parade” of 10,000 led by James Weldon Johnson in NYC protested lynchings of African-American.
• Suffragettes picketed the White House and were arrested.
• 1 in 5 adults could not read or write and only 6% of Americans graduated from high school (today’s literacy rate--about 86%).

• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available at the corner drugstore as well as asbestos.

• The murder rate was 230 TOTAL for the whole country. Hmmmm

• The Russian Revolution saw the end of Tsar Nicolas; the Duma is established as the government--along with Lenin. 

• London to New York--5 days aboard ship (today--about 8 hours by plane).
• Babe Ruth was playing for the Red Sox! Humpf!
• The average price of a home was $5000 = about $112,000 in today’s dollars (in 2010 the average price of a home was $275,000).

• White Castle sold its hamburger patties on a bun! We also got Moon Pies. 

• Some other products from 1917 are still staples: 

• A car was about $400 = $9000 in today’s money; 2017--average car price is $35,000.
• June 15, 1917--the first Boeing aircraft flew; today there are about 25,000 planes in commercial service.
• July 1, Coca-Cola introduced its current formula; today over 1.9 billion servings of Coke are enjoyed.
• The first “super” market was PigglyWiggly in Memphis, TN. Today there are about 38,000 supermarkets with sales of about $650 billion.
• John D Rockefeller was stated to be the world’s first billionaire on Sept. 29, 1917 (in today’s numbers his net worth was about $340 billion. Bill Gates is worth about $84 billion.
• The major technological inventions in 1917 were the toggle light switch and the zipper Today we’re are learning about CRISPR – gene editing technology.

• Mata Hari, the Dutch dancer, was executed by a firing squad for spying for Germany

• Three of the top 10 songs of 1917 were versions of “Over There” with Dixieland Jazz Band’s “At the Darktown Strutter’s Ball” and “For Me & My Gal” following. 

• The 18th Amendment is passed and sent to the states for ratification (War and NO ALCOHOL! – great timing, huh?).
• The following famous folks were born: John Kennedy, Ella Fitzgerald, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dean Martin, and Desi Arnaz.

• Fashion changed - notice the ankles showing.

• And children, during this year, were reading (if they could read) Anne of Green Gables and the Wizard of Oz; at school, students began getting lessons in patriotism to “awaken their feelings”--written by the National Education Association with Wilson’s backing.

• As 1917 rolled to an end, ads for the holidays began to appear:

Apologies, readers, if you think I got too long winded with the list! I love creating them. Seems some things are so very different and so many things – sadly – have not changed very much. Hope you enjoyed a few tidbits, and, please, think good thoughts for holiday lights for Savvy Glenne. (At least on the front porch.)

To the Readers who may inquire where I get my information: My research methods are erratic. I make a list of what I want to know, then type "Google - the word (e.g. ads 1917) - images." This is where I get the pictures. Information for 1917 came from some 15 sources, much of which was so repetitive that it fell into the "common knowledge" domain. One fun source for almost everything is www.answers.com which is where I found many of the known companies and inventions. Wikipedia, of course, was a starting point with some 25 plus entries about 1917. Www.singularityhub.com also is a great starting point for any topic as is www.onthisday.com. You may enjoy these sites for fun information.

Glenne