Time capsule: 1911

Oftentimes I've wished I had been born 100 years earlier than I was, in the era that Mark Twain dubbed "the Gilded Age." An age that seems far more beautiful and civilized than our present one of ugly, monotonous, mass-produced crap.

But even I have to admit that Victoriana/Edwardiana has been sanitized and glamorized... we also have to remember that they didn't have things like air conditioning, washing machines, or antibiotics. It was a dirtier and more dangerous world-- especially if you weren't wealthy.

Before we say goodbye to 2011, I thought it would be fun to take a "time machine" back to 1911, to see a snapshot of life 100 years ago.

In 1911...

- My grandmother was born:

- The POTUS was William Howard Taft:

- The average life expectancy in the United States was 50.9 years for men, 54.4 years for women.

- A loaf of bread cost $.05.

- A box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes cost $.10.

- Between 1910-1920, the average annual household income was $750.

- Movies were still in their infancy; they were silent and far shorter than they are today.

One movie, directed by D.W. Griffith and released in two parts in June of 1911, was Enoch Arden, which was based on a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Each part was 17 minutes long-- click on image below to watch on YouTube.

A popular tune in 1911 was "Oh, You Beautiful Doll", written by Nat Ayer (music) and Seymour Brown (words). The original, 100-year-old recording:

- Fashion-wise, women's dresses were starting to take a new shape. The hourglass figure so popular in Victorian times was giving way to straighter shape that would eventually evolve into the boyish flapper dresses of the 1920's.

Page from McCall's March 1911 issue; click to enlarge

- Inventions of 1911 include air conditioning, the gyrocompass, the automobile self-starter, the hydroplane, and the knapsack parachute.

- Although many middle-class homes had indoor bathtubs, you still had to heat the stove to get the water hot-- meaning that taking a real bath was still only convenient enough to do once a week. Daily bathing/showering wouldn't become the norm till after the Second World War, and neither would the use of underarm deodorant.

I can only figure that people back then were just used to odors that we don't tolerate today-- after all, everyone must have stunk.

- People washed their hair (not all that often, either) with egg yolks or Borax.

For curiosity's sake I once tried washing my hair with Borax, which I keep in my house for cleaning. It actually worked really well, leaving my hair clean, soft, and shiny. It stung my scalp a bit though-- obviously too harsh for frequent use.

- When people brushed their teeth, they used pig bristle toothbrushes and sodium bicarbonate. While this probably whitened teeth and freshened breath temporarily, there was no fluoride.

And, like daily bathing and deodorant, regularly brushing teeth really didn't catch on till after World War II... soldiers coming back from the war had been made to brush daily, and they brought the habit back with them.

I suppose that life in the early 21st century isn't so bad after all... although I wonder what people in 2111 will think when they look back at us...

Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year, everyone.