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re: People born around 1900 had it pretty bad
Posted on 10/9/25 at 8:51 pm to LSUTANGERINE
Posted on 10/9/25 at 8:51 pm to LSUTANGERINE
I dunno, we had the good water fountains.
0
Posted on 10/9/25 at 9:02 pm to LSUTANGERINE
quote:
World War I
Spanish flu epidemic
Great depression
World War II
Just think if you were a Jew born in Germany in 1900. Yikes!
Posted on 10/9/25 at 9:29 pm to TIGERHOLD
quote:The remake of that song is wild. There's a decent sized gap in event covered between the two versions. Almost like they wanted to ignore a world where a guy like Billy Joel could tie down Christie Brinkley for a decade.
We didn’t start the fire.
It’s always burning since the world’s been turning.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 9:34 pm to Jim Rockford
quote:
When my great grandmother was a little girl she saw her first automobile at the parish fair. Her father wouldn't let them get close to it because he thought it would blow up. She lived long enough to fly to Hawaii on a 747 with one of her granddaughters.
That’s awesome. I sometimes think of a story from my grandfather’s childhood, when his little brother had an accident on the ranch. He had to wait two days to find out if his brother was ok because they had to take him on a buckboard to the nearest town.
By the time my grandfather retired, he was driving a GTO that moved a little faster and made a whole lot more noise than a buckboard. And we even had air conditioning by then!
Amazing changes in one lifetime.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 9:44 pm to Penrod
quote:
Just think if you were a Jew born in Germany in 1900. Yikes!
Just think if you were a Russian or German born in 1900. Yikes!
Posted on 10/9/25 at 9:51 pm to cbree88
quote:I have trouble falling asleep and an usually thinking through something until I pass out. I watched 2001 so I had a spark on this very thing. Last night I was trying to wrap my head around a world where my day was manual labor with family, little clue of a world beyond my county, and very little light after dark. I'm sure Abe Lincoln was happy to have cutting edge military communication technologies like the telegraph machines.
The best time to live is always the present.
What's amazing to me is how far we fell from the Roman Empire to the middle ages. Despite it happening much longer ago, it's so much easier to imagine my life in Rome than in England centuries later. As I was watching the beginning of the movies I also contemplated on the mindset of people feeling they had to cover up themselves. What led to it and how would society be different if clothes were never a thing?
My great grandpa was born in 1900 and lived until 1991. His dad was a postman and passed it down so he wasn't in either war. When he died my parents and grandparents spent days going through the house and finding money hidden all over the place. My grandpa was born in 1917, 6 years before my grandma. He was in the 101st abs his company was dropped into the BOTB. He came home and had a municipal job until he retired (playing house until my grandma retired 5 years later). He knew the value of saving and between them they had 2 pensions. In the dead of winter they would go to Palm Springs until their friends died off. They passed along wealth that "carried/will carry" land & home all the way up to when my grandkids leave my kid's homes. The people born 1900-1920 made "peak America" possible.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:09 pm to thumperpait
Yes. I’m disappointed that I did not ask my grandparents enough questions before they passed away. I know before they had AC they used to put my dad and his siblings on the floor to sleep and let the attic vent fan run. They said the wooden floors were always cooler even with blankets.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:17 pm to EphesianArmor
quote:Reading The Grapes of Wrath now. It sure makes me appreciative of the time and place in which I live.
Dust Bowl wiped out many farmers
This post was edited on 10/9/25 at 10:18 pm
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:23 pm to EphesianArmor
quote:
What gets my voted as the "best version of America" or "definitive America" is the early 1950s-early 1970s.
If you were white.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:27 pm to LSUTANGERINE
Many rural folks had outhouses, no running water and no electricity into the mid-late 1940's. They had wash basins, a well, an ice box in the ground, candles and no money. They pulled a living out of the dirt and ate hickory trees piece by piece.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:27 pm to LSUTANGERINE
My grandfather was born in 1902. When I was in 5th grade they asked us to interview a family member who had lived through the Great Depression so I chose to interview him. He told me he didn’t know things were that bad because in NorthLa they were all poor so nothing really changed. He didn’t find out until the textbooks started talking about it in the 50’s that it had been a big deal.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 10:46 pm to LSUTANGERINE
quote:
World War I
The US entered the war in 1917. The draft at that time was for men 21-35. So anyone born in 1900 would be too young to be drafted to fight in the war. However, they could volunteer for the army when they tuned 18. But, considering the war, or at least the fighting, ended in November, 1918, depending on when their birthday fell, they might not make it over to France in time to see combat before the armistice went into effect.
quote:
Spanish flu epidemic
Spanish flu peaked in the US in the fall of 1918 and, oddly as far as the flu is concerned, impacted young adults the hardest. So someone born in 1900 would definitely fall in this demographic.
quote:
Great depression
Started in 1929, so someone born in 1900 would be in their prime working age. The depression would hit them hard.
quote:
World War II
Just as they probably missed out on WWI due to being too young, considering the US entered the war at the very end of 1941, someone born in 1900 would be 41, almost 42 and thus most likely, too old to be caught up in the war unless they’re career military. While technically eligible for the draft, most men in their 40s would be married with children, thus have multiple deferments to shield them from being drafted.
Where WWII would affect them though would be their children. The kids of someone born in 1900 would be prime military age for the war.
quote:
Korean war
Unless thy had family actually fighting, the war probably had little impact on their life. Korea is called the “Forgotten War” for a good reason.
quote:
Vietnam war
They’d probably be appalled at the “counter-culture” of the late 60s an all the socal upheaval from the protests. But, unless thy had a grandchild in the war, which is highly possible, it probably had little impact on their life.
Posted on 10/9/25 at 11:23 pm to LSUTANGERINE
This generation had to deal with the Chinese Virus and to some idiots, Trump (the left thinks he’s Hitler 2.0) All I got.
Posted on 10/10/25 at 12:19 am to EphesianArmor
quote:
There were bread lines and unemployment was rife until WW2,
First part is propaganda. Second part is true. The war did get us back to full employment. But the Great Depression was greatly exaggerated to usher in the New Deal and the era of Big Government that has never left us.
That being said, I could not imagine living without AC or all the modern conveniences of today that didn’t exist in that time period. Even the simplest tasks were difficult and took all day. Just preparing 3 meals per day was a full time job. The standard of living we enjoy today is just unbelievable compared to those times.
And it’s all thanks to capitalism and this amazing country of ours that is so rich with resources that make us wealthy. And of course our Founding Fathers who had the foresight to establish this country with our God given freedom in writing so long ago.
This post was edited on 10/10/25 at 12:20 am
Posted on 10/10/25 at 1:17 am to dnm3305
The fifty year block 1950-2000 is probably going to be looked at as the golden age of america. Sure there were challenges, no era is perfect, but it was absolutely nothing compared to the eras before. Prosperity, comfort, good health, leisure time, all grew exceptionally quickly during that time in a way it never had before.
2000-2050 is still TBD but it feels like the beginning of decline mostly. The rise of social media culture. Social cohesion and community being destroyed by immigration. AI threatening to upend the entire economy. Technology is getting better yet everything is somehow getting worse.
2000-2050 is still TBD but it feels like the beginning of decline mostly. The rise of social media culture. Social cohesion and community being destroyed by immigration. AI threatening to upend the entire economy. Technology is getting better yet everything is somehow getting worse.
This post was edited on 10/10/25 at 1:20 am
Posted on 10/10/25 at 5:24 am to Demonbengal
The Great Depression was not bad for the folks that kept their jobs throughout. Most folks did keep their job and were not really affected. The folks that lost their jobs were in for a bumpy ride for sure.
Posted on 10/10/25 at 6:05 am to LSUTANGERINE
My maternal granddaddy was 12 when WW1 ended so he missed on that end. I don’t think he was ever in the military at all though . He worked all day every day on his farm and hung out with his fam including brothers. Pretty oblivious to the outside world. He did have to go work on the railroads during the GD.
He basically just worked outdoors on his own farm into his 80s and died in 1995. Less BS than most people go through these days.
He basically just worked outdoors on his own farm into his 80s and died in 1995. Less BS than most people go through these days.
Posted on 10/10/25 at 6:23 am to LSUTANGERINE
Yeah and they’re all dead now too; I’d say that’s pretty bad
Posted on 10/10/25 at 6:26 am to LSUTANGERINE
But the 1200 sq ft houses they lived in were cheaper than the 2500 sq ft houses everyone lives in now
Posted on 10/10/25 at 6:36 am to LSUTANGERINE
My grandmothers were both born in 1899. And both were raised by relatives because their parents couldn't afford to keep them. It wasn't too unusual. Both had difficult lives. I can remember one grandmother was at our house for the moon landing. She was happy that we beat the Russians there because she hadn't liked or trusted the Russians since 1917.
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