In 1904

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub and only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

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.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California, which was only the 21st most populous state in the Union. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30!

The average unskilled worker made between $200 and $450 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 in the U.S. took place at home. Most U.S. physicians had no college degree. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound, eggs were fourteen cents a dozen and coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at neighborhood 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." (Shocking!)

Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.

The first powered airplane flight took place the previous December and lasted only 3.5 seconds!