It is now 2023, and I started thinking about the changes in a century. These are my notes.
In the year 1923
Less than 40% of homes had electricity.
1% had a radio.
About one-third had a phone.
Letters by postal delivery was the primary form of communication over any distance, even within the same city.
Telegrams were for emergencies, business, and the wealthy.
Electric refrigeration was virtually non-existent. People used blocks of ice to chill insulated boxes. They put a sign in the window with how big a block they wanted the iceman to deliver.
People still went to see vaudeville, but “moving pictures” at the cinema were becoming more popular.
At the cinema, those moving pictures, or “movies” were silent only. And it was still several years before theaters were air-conditioned.
People got most of their news from the newspaper, which often had multiple editions a day printed.
It was still common to see horse-drawn wagons in the cities, and the last horse-drawn fire engine was retired in New York City just the year before.
Most people had just a couple outfits of clothing (other than workwear), consisting of “Sunday best), along with typical daily attire.
Two pairs of shoes wasn’t uncommon (dress and rough wear), and there was a good chance the boys around the neighborhood wore sneakers.
There were commercial air flights available (for those who could afford it), but most people traveled by train or bus when on land, and the only way for a passenger to cross an ocean was by ship.
For suburban residents who worked in the cities, the commute was about the same as today, but it meant a train ride and some walking.
If your house was more than 20 years old, it probably was built without a bathroom. And if you lived in the country, you still had an outhouse. The “tub, sink, toilet” bathroom of today was really an invention of the 1920s.
Toilet paper – mostly for city and suburban homes (the country folk still had their Sears and Roebuck catalogs), was advertised as “splinter-free,” as a mark of quality.
There were some prepared foods available, but most cooking was done from scratch. And people ate a lot less meat and dairy than today.
I could go on for pages with some of these interesting (I think) differences between then and now, but the decade of the 1920s was rapidly innovating and advancing. By the end of the decade phones, electricity, plumbing, and gas cooking would be commonplace in the home. Talking pictures “Talkies” would be universal, and private automobile ownership widespread.
Naturally it makes one wonder what life will be like in a hundred years hence. But if you are thinking about making predictions, first go to your computer search engine (A phrase that people would not comprehend a century ago) and look up what people in the 1920s thought the future would look like. It will bring some laughs and teach some humility.