A Century Ago

Happy New Year! 

As we celebrate the dawn of 2012, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back 100 years ago (and no, I wasn’t around then :-)). 

Care to join me?  Let’s begin this journey of 1912 with some top headlines of the day...

The year kicked off with New Mexico becoming the 47th state on Jan. 6.

 

Shortly following, the union also gained Arizona on February 14.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

Word traveled speedily in the spring of 1912 with tragic news.

After a four day journey, the “unsinkable” Titanic hit an iceberg on April 14, sinking in the North Atlantic's frigid waters.  About 1500 lives were lost.

The ocean liner Carpathia rescued just over 700 survivors, on April 15.

In other major news of the year,

Taft and Roosevelt battled it out in the Republican primary.  However, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected as the 28th president of the United States in this three way race.

Famous people that were born in 1912 include:

Julia Child          Art Linkletter
Perry Como        Vivian Vance
Dale Evans         Gene Kelly

 

Humanitarian and founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton, died at the age of 90 in 1912.

Beloved Canadian novelist, Lucy M. Montgomery’s Chronicles of Avonlea was published in 1912.  One of my favorites!

The Tale of Mr. Tod, by Beatrix Potter was first published in 1912.  (Her complete works were a Christmas gift for my oldest daughter.  She was delighted!)

Also, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation “Tarzan of the Apes” was published in “All-Story Magazine”. (His book was published in 1914.)

Cars of 1912:

Louis Chevrolet sits in his prototype, which goes to production as the first Chevrolet in 1912.

A 1912 Ford Model T—isn’t this family cute!

Music:

This was the Ragtime dance era.

 

Fashions of the times:

Weren’t these dresses lovely—so feminine, so modest, and so pretty.  Besides the obvious reasons of dressing modestly, it’s classy.
 

You would pay about 9 cents for a quart of milk.

A gallon of gas was 18-21 cents.

A house would cost around 2000-5000 dollars.

An average income would be just over 14 dollars/week.

People and Places of 1912:

 

 Above is a crowd gathered for the World Series. 

   Titanic Survivors in picture above.

A few ads of the times:

Vintage Magazine Covers of 1912—what artwork!

Thanks for joining me!