Life is pleasant on Pleasant Street.
If you lived in 1906, Teddy Roosevelt would be your President. You may, or may not, have voted for him. But, you probably used his famous line, “Bully for you.” For all I know, you might even have used the popular slang of the day and spouted off, “23 skiddoo”, in addition to “bully for you.”
If you wanted to make a real impression you’d think beyond your command of popular slang. You’d show off your wealth by placing a 3-minute long distance phone call across the country. A call, such as this, cost eleven dollars. Not cheap when you consider the average wage earner made 22-cents an hour. Also, shampoo must have been a huge expense because most women in 1906 washed their hair only once a month with egg yolks or borax. Even though they knew they were “worth it,” they didn’t splurge on shampoo when eggs were the less expensive choice. Coffee costs 15 cents a pound and no one had heard of Starbucks or a four-dollar pumpkin spice latte. The speed limit stood at 10 mph in most cities. Can you imagine the horror of some speed demon blowing past you at 15 mph in a rickety Ford buggy car! But there weren’t as many people back then to fear for their lives from speeding buggy cars. A little drink-water town known as Las Vegas claimed a population of just 30 in 1906. It’s true. What happened in Vegas really did stay in Vegas. Unless one of the 30 residents had flappin’ loose lips and traveled out of town to tell the world what you did while in Vegas. Oh my! They did whaaaatt? In Vegas, you say?
All this to say, 1906 happened in a different world than we live in today.
