[PW] 100 years ago statistics query

[Bye, Dan J]

Snopes haven't discussed it definitively, but there has been some discussion on their bulletin boards:
http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=51764

See also: http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-85830.html

 Dan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org 
> [mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On 
> Behalf Of Jon George
> Sent: 17 December 2007 15:03
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Subject: [PW] 100 years ago statistics query
> 
> I'm wondering about the validity of a list circulating 
> around, usually through email, with statistics claiming to be 
> from 100 years ago.  For instance, average life expaectancy 
> in the U.S., 47 years; total number of reported murders: 230; etc.
> 
> I'm highly suspicious, since versions of the list with the 
> same numbers can be found on the Internet dated variously 
> from 1900-1907.
> 
> Is anyone familiar with this who can point me to something 
> that will definitively debunk this?  It doesn't appear to be 
> covered on Snopes.
> 
> The CDC does report a life expectancy of 47.3 yrs. for 1900 
> (data from 10 states); the statehood fact is valid from 
> 1896-1907; I'm wondering if maybe the list was originally 
> correct for the year 1900 and people have just been 
> re-circulating it, assuming a couple years' difference won't matter?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jon George
> River Falls Public Library
> River Falls, WI
> 
> An example list:
> 
>  The average life expectancy in the US was 47 years.               
>    Only 14% of the homes in the US had a bathtub.                 
>    Only 8%of the homes had a telephone.                       
>    A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.00
> 
>    There were only 8,000 cars in the US, 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.  With a mere 1.4 million 
> residents, California was only the 21st most populous state 
> in the Union.
> 
>    The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.   
>           
>    The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour.                 
>    The average US worker made between $200 and $400 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.               
>    A mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.                   
>    More than 95 percent of all births in the US took place at home.
> 
>    Ninety % of all US physicians had no college education. 
> 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.
> 
>    Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.                         
>    Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used 
> borax or egg
> yolks for shampoo.                               
>    Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering 
> the country
> for   any reason.                                   
>    The five leading causes of death in the US were:               
>   o     Pneumonia and influenza                         
>   o     Tuberculosis                               
>   o     Diarrhea                                 
>   o     Heart disease                               
>   o     Stroke                                   
> 
> 
>    The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New 
> Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
> 
>    The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30!                   
>    Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.
> 
>    There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.                   
>    Two of 10 US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 % of 
> all Americans
> had  graduated high school.                             
>    Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter
> at   corner 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 US had at least one full-time
> servant or domestic.                               
>    There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire 
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