It's Just the Coffee Talking: In 1926, only 4% of American workers made enough money to be required to file federal income tax.... (and more fun facts over coffee!)

So... the person who is having a birthday this week doesn't actually read my blog but it's the basis of this post!

I decided to do a personalized birthday card for him using authentic advertisements and trivia from the year he was born.  It took a lot of digging through old newspaper archives and magazines available (for free) online but I did it and got his birthday 'poster' card finished this morning.   

I found some of the facts to be pretty interesting!  Even though I couldn't use 99% of what I was reading - I went down a lot of 'rabbit holes' on the internet digging up more information on some of the random things I saw or read.  Many of the companies selling items back then are long gone now (even many well known companies didn't make it).  I would see a name and start to get lost in genealogy searches.  I found myself accidentally looking through old high school year books from the 1920's.  LOL.

LOTS of side-trips with this little weekend endeavor I thought would be a quick project.

But it was fun!

I thought I'd share a couple facts for you to ponder over your morning coffee too.
 

(This is for the USA at this time)

    Life expectancy in 1900 was 48.2 years for males and 50.7 years for females.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

    The cost of living increased at least 63.1% and possibly as much as 78.6% between 1914 and 1921.
Source: National Industrial Conference Board.

    Milk cost an average of 33¢ per half gallon in 1920.
Source: U.S. BLS

    Coffee cost an average of 47¢ per pound in 1920.
Source: U.S. BLS

    In the 1920s, about one tenth of people in the 18-21 age group attended college.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Education

    Cars cost an average of $2,537 in 1920.
Source: Automotive Industries

    A 1920 Model-T Ford was priced at $440
Source: Recorded in the Automobile Trade Journal, Nov 1 1920 issue

    Gasoline cost an average of 21.7¢ per gallon in 1929.
Source: USDA

    In 1925, motor vehicles were scrapped at an average age of 6.5 years. 
Source: Automobile Manufacturers Association

    In 1926, only about 4% of workers earned enough to be required to file a federal income tax return.  Source: NBER

 

 

 

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