Today, while U.S. poverty is at 15 percent, America’s poor still live better than most people throughout history. The median income for a white senior couple is $45,000, for black seniors, $37,000.
The changes in America in the past century have been incredible. Even most of the “poor” today have TV, cell phones, and air conditioning, not to mention government subsidies, which 70 percent of Americans now get For perspective, it’s worth looking at some of the dramatic changes.
At the turn of the century, according to historian Frank E. Smitha, the country was still more rural than urban. Three in five families lived in a town of fewer than 2,500. The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Two out of ten people couldn’t read or write.
A century ago, there was no Social Security, no Medicare, no income tax, no unemployment insurance, no public housing, no minimum wage. Families were obliged to take care of their own aged and handicapped.
Only 8 percent of homes had a telephone. Only 14 percent of homes had a bathtub. The average wage was about 20 cents an hour. Canned beer, iced tea and crossword puzzles had yet to be invented.
There were about 8,000 cars but only 145 miles of paved roads. Fuel for autos was sold at drug stores. So were marijuana, morphine, and heroin. There were only about 250 murders reported in the entire country.
The U.S. was already a world industrial leader, however, benefiting from abundance of natural resources and an economy organized by large corporations. Specialized commercial agriculture led to a favorable balance of trade.
Many people were poor. In inner cities, factory workers lived in crowded, unsanitary tenements. Electricity was reaching more people in the cities, but some feared it. A few even thought it caused freckles, according to historian Smitha. Only a few families had central heating. Most stayed close to the stove in winter.
Middle and upper class Anglo-Americans were feeling optimistic. Republican President McKinley boasted about the prosperity. The middle class was earning vacations. They went to vaudeville shows, amusement parks, and on family picnics. Families gathered around a piano for sing-alongs.
At the turn of the century, more women were working outside of their homes. Enter the typewriter. Women became a third of the clerical workers. Some became teachers. In a third of the states, a wife’s earnings belonged to her husband. Women involved in the suffrage movement were considered neurotic.
A desire for self-improvement became widespread; high school graduates were increasing. Many Americans gave Christianity credit for the nation’s prosperity, “seeing their material success as God’s reward for their virtue, industry, and thrift,” as Smitha described it. Church membership grew, and morality reached children through McGuffey Readers and the Bible.
Immigrants worked 12 hours a day in inner cities; Smitha says they were “unimpressed by the piety of those with more wealth than they — people they saw as greedy…with too much leisure.”
In some inner cities, saloons were community centers, where workers often picked up their mail and had access to a telephone. Saloons also provided water troughs for horses and free newspapers. In much of Chicago, saloons outnumbered grocery and dry-goods stores. Some saloons were settings for union meetings, even weddings.
A century ago, for a woman to appear moral, she had to wear dresses that extended to her ankles. Women who wished respect remained virgins until marriage. But there were many abortions for unwanted pregnancies. While many Christian scholars analyzed the Bible, evolution had become an issue.
Concern about idleness among boys helped motivate the passage of compulsory education laws.
Typhus and tuberculosis were prevalent. Syphilis also was widespread. Mental institutions held many late-stage syphilis-infected patients as the disease attacked their brains.
Deaths of infants and women in childbirth were common. Doctors had little knowledge of germs, although science was gaining more understanding of diseases. Government funding of medical research was almost non-existent. Philanthropists, such as John D. Rockefeller, took up the need. He founded the Institute for Medical Research and funded it with millions.
About a hundred craft labor unions existed a century ago. The union movement was led by Samuel Gompers who opposed the idea of a Labor Party. To the left of Gompers were socialists, primarily Eugene Debs. He believed labor and industry’s opposing interests could never be resolved and urged workers to join the socialist party.
Some Americans blamed the rich for their problems, and many of modest means felt the wealthy had gained their riches through greed. But optimism proved stronger than class warfare. The country was stable and functioning, wages were on the rise.
Teddy Roosevelt returned to the presidency in 1904, promising everyone a “Square Deal.” Pure food and drug laws were enacted, and thousands of acres of national parks were created.
The internal combustion engine made flying possible. And you know the rest of the story of the remaining years. But who knows what the next century will bring?
Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.