Happy New Year. Are We Better Off Today?

While all medias are doing a retrospective of the year 2010 and try to predict what will happen in 2011, lets look at how life was in the US one century ago. It will boggle your mind.

Now, think about it. Are we better off today? Read the following statistics from the Year 1910. Should make you thankful for all what you’ve got. I let you decide… 

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Fuel was sold in drugstores only. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per 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, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 and a mechanical engineer about $5,000. More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME. Ninety percent of all Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as ‘substandard.’Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. The Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke.

The American flag had 45 stars. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30. Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented yet. There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, ‘Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health’

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A!

Today you can forward this article to someone else without typing it yourself by using one of the the widget buttons below this post. It will be delivered in one second anywhere on this planet. From there, it will be sent to others all over the world. Now, try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years! Happy New Year To All.

20 Responses to “Happy New Year. Are We Better Off Today?”


  1. 1 ROCKSTAR Dec 31st, 2010 at 10:24 am

    we come from nothingness, & so we shall return to nothingness
    what transpires between matters not

  2. 2 JJ - moto addict Dec 31st, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Where’s the part about how cool motorcycles were?

  3. 3 burnout Dec 31st, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Uh Oh Rockstar is pontificating! But he is co-rect. While we appear to be “better off” than 100 yrs ago there is always a trade-off………………….. We are regulated into the ground, have NONE of the freedoms taken for granted back then, and we are flooded daily with information about people we care absolutely nothing about. HOWEVER, I use this new-fangled internet like a mofo and am glad to have it! THANKS Mr Huze for saving me a lot of time. You have the best site on the Dubya dubya dubya. Peace and A Great New Year to all!!

  4. 4 csajokamotoron Dec 31st, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    Happy New Year to you all as well, and thanks for your work Cyril!

  5. 5 nuno maroco Dec 31st, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    Happy New Year to all.
    Hope things goes better in this little planet, for everyone.

  6. 6 666 Dec 31st, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    Some things are better and some not as good. Trade offs every where!!! Personally take me back to the good ole days!!! E$ven the motorcycles were much cooler then and definitly had class. Not like the mass produced cookie cutter bikes of today

  7. 7 Bad Monkey Dec 31st, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    At least 100 years ago you could punch out a punk for running their mouth too much without going to jail or being sued to death. Now we’re a society of pussies hiding behind so-called ‘Law and Order’ and 1,000,000,000 lawyers. Give me the times when men were still men.

  8. 8 666 Dec 31st, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    bad monkey Agree!!!!!!!! Our right to protect our self and dignity is one of the things that were traded off. Just think, Machinists were machinists not computer operators (CNC). Welders new how to weld, not program a freakin robot. But these are the things that we call “PROGRESS”!!!

  9. 9 David Jan 1st, 2011 at 12:44 am

    Happy New Year to All and Thanks to Cyril for a forum to keep us informed and discuss matters with our fellow riders !!!

    By the way I think Canada may have had the right ideal with their law. But who wants to live there and freeze to death for most of the year anyway……Less riding time!!
    I much prefer kegged beer myself,but alas there was no way to get and keep it frosty !
    Things were built to last and were made by our own two hands and people had JOBS !
    Damn they started thase kids smoking early no wonder they died from cancer and emphysema and wanted free health care(Brett).
    SSDD;David

  10. 10 Wiz Jan 1st, 2011 at 8:49 am

    I’m glad I live right here, right now. Everyday it’s amazing what we come up with. Instantly communicate with everyone, everywhere. Be on the other side of the planet in less than a day. Cruise around in heated/airconditioned vehicles and eat such a veriety of foods/drinks it boogles your selection process. Live to be 90+ with good teeth! Every kind of drug for darn near every ailment. Can you imagine pooping yourself to death? YEAACH!!! Although we are all more full of crap than ever. I am enjoying this wonderful world, just look at that word for a moment, break it down ‘an it means Full of Wonder! Ridin’ our dependable scooters anywhere we want ‘an it not going CLACKY-CLACK, BING-BOING, KLANKTY-KLANK, POOF!! Enjoying smooth roads through the most beautiful places on earth. And our rallys and the fellowship therein is unsurpassed! WOW, It’s good to be alive right now! Everyone have a Great year and have Graitude for the many Blessings we recieve!! Thank you Everyone for sharing our world! Wiz

  11. 11 SCOTT Jan 1st, 2011 at 8:54 am

    Some things better, some things worse. Who could have thought we’d have motorcycles that would run around 100,000 miles before overhaul. (I’ve got 76,000 on one of my twin cams). Who would have forseen we would have put people in space that helped lead to lifesaving technology and the computer world we now live in. Yes it is true we’ve given up some things but if we only made it to 47 now me and most of my good friends would have already been gone instead of meeting in Sturgis every year for two weeks.

  12. 12 Hondo Cat Jan 1st, 2011 at 10:03 am

    Sounds to me like some things were better in ’10…Two of my grandparents were born in 1910. They’ve told me life was harder but simpler. The realities, they told me were stark. Of course, what they remembered well were things that occurred ten years later, after 1920. Some aspects of the simpler life were cherished.

    Actually, I yearn for a simpler life now!

  13. 13 sly Jan 1st, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Thankyou Cyril for this wonderful site, I love reading it. And thankyou Wiz for your thoughtful, positive comments about living now. I think life has always had good and bad, and with the internet we hear more about both constantly. So it’s important we try to hold onto the good.

  14. 14 Jeff Nicklus Jan 1st, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    Wiz,

    Very well said ! We do live in interesting times …. what more could we ask than that?

    Over & Out,

    Jeff

  15. 15 martin Twofeather Jan 1st, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    ignorance is bliss I guess…………..

  16. 16 Wiz Jan 2nd, 2011 at 6:04 am

    You can go through life as a starry-eyed idealist/lunitic or a serious intellectual, but who’s going to have more fun? Wiz

  17. 17 Larry R Jan 2nd, 2011 at 11:18 am

    Looking forward to tomorrow and what I can make of it. Can’t participate in much of the money things but can get plenty of ideas. The past was low tech – high maintenance against the hi-tec- low maintenance life of today. We have many things to keep us occupied and the time to do it. I have a love-hate relationship with life. I felt that I had more freedom in the past along with more hope. Today, I’m not so sure. In rural America where I live, it is pretty predictable. The rest of the world may go to hell, but life will be the same here. It is what you make it. The rest will find equilibrium. Hope you find yourself in the right spot. Happy New Year. And thanks Cyril for your blog.

  18. 18 Delski Jan 5th, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    Those were different times for sure I am young but I see some things in this post that where not mentioned that you need to consider about the world we live in.

    There was not a Nuclear power plant, Nuclear bomb or a New World Order yet.

    For that matter the Machine Gun was not invented yet.

    The great American War Machine had not yet been established.

    Money was still backed by Gold which kept inflation in check and made sure that a person couldn’t throw thier self into a enormous debt that there children’s children’s will have looming.

    Plus there wasnt a bunch of worthless crap to buy like I – Tweets and Face Pods

    The skies were free from Jet’s and pollution

    An the thought of Everything being made in China would have been laughed at

    Also There was not a ball of Trash floating in the ocean that was the size of Texas

    200 to 400 dollars a year would have not been so bad when the cost of a gallon of milk was a penny and most people lived on farms and grew and produced thier own food what was left you sold

    I don’t know I would have like to give it a shot Plus I always wanted to Board Track Race

    Interesting post Cyril

  19. 19 Wiz Jan 7th, 2011 at 4:55 am

    At least we ain’t POOPING ourselves to DEATH!! YUK-YUK!! Wiz

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Cyril Huze