Way Back Then In The Early 1900s By CJ Gilbert February 13 th, 2004

Way back then, all the girls wanted to look like a “Gibson Girl” and all the boys wanted a “Gibson Girl” Charles Gibson drew a type of woman that was pretty, self- confident and slightly aloof (meaning hard-to-get) but still nice. She represented the optimism of the time period, and many women copied her look. Pictures and information from "The Gibson Girl" EyeWitness to History, 12 Feb

Way back then, NO TV or radio and even comics in color were pretty new. Opper, Frederick Burr. "Happy Hooligan Dropped into the House of Lords," cartoon, 9 April 1905 New York American and Journal; rpt. Bill Blackbeard and Martin Williams, The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics

Way back then, fun meant reading, sports, driving, family gatherings and a brand-new but rare spectacle: the silent movie… In 1900, L. Frank Baum writes “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz… solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.” In 1939, his book would be made into one of the earliest color movies. Pictures and information from Dirks, Tim. “Timeline of Influential Milestones and Important Turning Points in Film History 1930s.” The Greatest Films. 12 Feb Quote from Baum from “Introduction“ The Wizard of Oz. Hypertext edition located on the Homepage for Robert Stockton. 12 Feb , audiences were amazed at this silent 10 minute black-and-white film – and scared when it ended with the robbers shooting at the camera!

Way back then, you walked, rode a horse or took a carriage … “Horseless carriages” were a brand-new idea. In 1908, Henry Ford started making his popular Model T automobile in Highland Park, Michigan (Original price: $872). Ford gave people a sense of freedom with the cars and a driving became popular past-time, but non-drivers were worried about excessive speeds so by 1906, a third of all the states had speed limits of 20 miles per hour! So its no surprise that driving across the country took 52 days! Picture and most information from “Ford Model T” MuscleCarClub. 12 Feb t/ford-model-t.shtml and Last sentence from “Historic Events and Technology.” Kingwood College Library: American Cultural History 12 Feb t/ford-model-t.shtml

Way back then, most towns only have a few little stores, and there were NO malls… Before the late 1800s, most things were made by hand. It took a long time to make things and it was expensive. Picture from and As businesses (like Ford’s) discovered how machinery and assembly lines can make production go faster and cheaper, things became cheaper for people to buy. One popular way to buy things was buy catalog, and Sears & Roebuck was one of the most popular.

Way back then, the country was the normal place to live… As technology and industry changed, factories needed more workers and more people headed to the cities to get jobs. It also meant that more and more people immigrated to the United States because we had more job opportunities than elsewhere. Pictures from and In some rural areas in the midwest, some people still lived in sod (dirt) houses. Most lived on small farms or worked in small towns. The increase in immigration and in people moving to the cities lead to problems with sanitation (staying clean) and disease because people crowded into small building that didn’t have enough bathrooms.

Way back then, children didn’t always get to be children… This is Furman Owens, 12 years old. When asked if he’d like to learn to read, he said he’d like to but can’t when he has to work all the time. (He was on his 4 th year as a millworker) Many children worked late hours and in dangerous conditions in factories, mines, mills and even on the streets, selling newspapers or peanuts. Their earnings ($0.40-$1 per day) often went to help feed their families. Their cheap labor helped make production cheaper and business owners rich. Picture from and information from

Way back then, discrimination was legal… Women could not vote. African-Americans could not vote. Only white males who could pay the voter’s registration fee and (in some states) pass a reading test could vote. Laws and government were heavily biased. In the south, over one hundred African- Americans were lynched (killed by a mob) in 1900 alone. Women could be arrested for smoking in public. In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois wrote a book called The Souls of Black Folk and warned his readers that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line” In 1904 by Dr.Mary McLeod Bethune opened the first school for African-American girls. Picture from and information from and

Way back then, people were excited about a world that was changing, concerned about whether the change would be for the better or for the worse, and struggling with some of the same problems faced by the world today. The End (for now…)