Thursday Thirteen #393

The way we were. Maybe it's a sign of my advancing age, but 1925 doesn't sound that long ago to me. It surprises me to realize it's been 100 years.

So I've tooled around the internet to find what the average American household was like in 1925.

1. We read the newspaper. The daily paper was the chief source of information and entertainment. Papers were highly competitive and often published morning and afternoon editions. Chicago was known for the American, Daily News, Evening Post, Journal, and Tribune. There were also about a dozen foreign language papers published regularly for the immigrant community.

2. We listened to the radio ... when we could. Only half of American homes had electricity in 1925, so fewer than that had radios. Neighbors used to congregate at the homes of friends who had radios to listen to popular shows and sporting events.

3. Magazines were glossy and influential. Women turned to Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping for fashions and domestic trends.

4. We wore tap pants. They were the best-selling lingerie item of the year. They were tight around your waist but loose around the hips and thighs and were often trimmed in lace at the hem to pretty them up a bit. They were considered more comfortable than slips and practical under any length skirt; important because hemlines were going up in the 20s.

5. We went to the movies every week. Many went more than once a week, what with Family Nights and Ladies Nights at the theater. It's not only that movies were affordable, exciting and entertaining. Movies were popular because theaters were the only place where air conditioning was commonplace.

6. Ice was delivered weekly. During the 1920s ice boxes were still the norm in American kitchens.

7. You cooked with coal or wood. Gas and electric stoves were available but far from common in 1925.

8. There was a cake safe on your counter. It was made of metal or glass, had a tight fitting lid, and protected your baked goods from dust and bugs.

9. But there was no storage under your sink. Sinks were mounted to the wall and usually stood on two or four legs. The area under the sink was left open to help prevent mildew.

10. Home phones were on the rise. While they certainly weren't standard issue yet, more homes had access to phones because major companies like Western Electric and Bell Telephone were investing in infrastructure.

11. Phone booths were everywhere. It was commonplace to find a booth in your local restaurant, drugstore and department store. While many homes didn't have phones in 1925, most businesses did, and you could go to a nearby phone booth to contact your doctor, grocery store or dairy. Which leads me to ...

12. Horse-drawn carts were still commonplace. Like ice (#6), milk and butter deliveries to your door were a regular occurrence, and it would be another decade before the milk and ice man began to use motor vehicles.

13. We talked a lot about cars. Soldiers returning from WWI aspired to buy cars, and car manufacturers became major employers. Still, not every home had a car yet. Roads had not caught up to the public's desire, and many prospective drivers were skeptical about a car with thin, wooden wheels navigating over mud and gravel. (However, by 1930 this would change radically.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.