In the summer of 1900......

The average life expectancy in the United States was 47.
Only 14% of the homes in the United States had bathtubs.
Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. Each telephone call required the assistance of an operator.
A three minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.00.
There were 8,000 cars in the United States and only 144 miles of paved road.
Morris County, Texas had no paved roads and probably no automobiles.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more populated than California.
Every house in Morris County also had an outhouse.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in the United States was 22 cents an hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
More than 95% of births in the United States took place at home.
Sugar was 4 cents a pound, eggs 14 cents a dozen, and coffee 15 cents a pound.
Naples and Omaha had open saloons.
Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
The five leading causes for death in the United States were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease, and 5. Stroke.
The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska had not yet been admitted to the Union.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30.
Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics had not yet been invented.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
There was no red and white Santa Claus. The current image was created by Coca Cola in the late 1920's or early 1930's.
One in 10 US adults could not read or write. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
18% of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
There were about 230 reported murders in the United States annually.
There was probably no electricity in Morris County, Texas.

50 Years Ago

In the summer of 1950......

The average household could buy a week's groceries for less than $20.
Cigarettes were about 15 cents per pack.
There were no televisions in Morris County. Naples and Omaha both had movie theaters.
Postage for a letter was three cents. Postage for a postcard was a penny.
The starting pay in the military services was less than $75 per month
Gasoline was about 20 cents per gallon.
When you pulled into a service station in Naples or Omaha, you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking....for free, every time, and you did not pay for air or water. More than likely you got trading stamps to boot.
Rock and Roll had not evolved yet.
A box of laundry detergent had either free glasses, dishes, or towels inside the box.
You were probably wearing a shirt or blouse your mother made from flour sacks.
The only movie thus far with any profanity in it was "Gone With The Wind" when Clark Gable uttered "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"
There were three drug stores in Naples, and all three had soda fountains.
Naples had a jail house and a court house.
Mrs. W. W. Mcnatt, who owned and ran the Inez Theater, probably had the only purebred dog in Naples, a pekingese.
The thought of putting a man on the moon this century was considered unlikely.
It was very rare to see a married woman work outside the home.
Most electronic kitchen gadgetry had not yet evolved.
Power tools were almost non-existent.
One could still hear the whippoorwill call. And bobwhite quail and meadowlarks were everywhere.
If your kids did something wrong, it was okay to administer corporal punishment in public and in the schools.
Most excursions by teenagers on a date were no further than to Daingerfield or Mt Pleasant.
Hospital rooms were about $8 per day.
Boys shucked their shoes at the first sign of spring and did not put them on again until the first frost of fall. By that time the calluses on the soles of their feet were thick enough to ward off nail punctures. A cup of coffee cost five cents.
The Naples blacksmith shop was located where the 'Vaughan' building now stands. This is the building where the Morris County National Bank now has auxiliary offices on the street leading from US Highway 67 up to the First Methodist Church. The blacksmith shop closed down around 1950.
The average annual salary was about $2400 per year. You could still drink from the local creeks and not get sick. You could buy a new Ford or Chevrolet fully loaded for less than $1500.
Professional football was not popular. Players earned about $50 per game on average. There were no Dallas Cowboys.
Most newspapers were a dime. The Naples Monitor and Omaha Breeze cost a nickel.
We could trust the President of the United States.

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