At Discovery Commons, our supportive communities give Senior Citizens opportunities to make meaningful friendships and connections. We help Seniors actively engage in the world around them so that they can continue to live a life of meaning, joy and wonder. Come visit us today!
What a difference over one hundred years can make! Much has changed since 1915. World War I or The Great War was raging in Europe in 1915. Women were fighting for the freedom to vote. Ford’s Model T Automobiles were on the street. The ‘war crinoline’ changed fashion, as hemlines crept upward in order to conserve cloth.
Come take a stroll back in time, and enjoy this trivia with your friends, family and community.
- The cost of an average home n the USA was about $3200.00
- An average annual salary for a Caucasian man was about $687
- Gas cost about 15 cents a galloon
- An Average car cost $2,005
- The Minimum Wage did not exist yet, although they were experimenting with it in certain states
- A loaf of bread cost 7 cents
- A quart of milk cost 9 cents
- A pound of steak cost 26 cents
- An average lunch cost between 6-15 cents
- Men’s shoes might cost $3-$5, equivalent to about $70-$116 today; Women’s shoes might cost $7-$10, equivalent to about $163-$233 today
- The US Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote
- The Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is established
- The World’s Fair opens in San Francisco
- Edward Stone, is fatally wounded and becomes the first US combatant to die in World War I
- Pluto is photographed for the first time
- Typhoid Mary is caught and quarantined after years of evading health officials and spreading outbreaks of Typhoid
- Babe Ruth makes his pitching debut for The Red Sox; They lose to The Yanks 4-3
- The first corporation with 1 million shareholders is AT&T
- The telescribe records telephone conversations, invented by Thomas Edison
- Ralph Depalma wins the Indianapolis 500
- Honus Wagner hits a grand slam home run
- A Hurricane strikes Galveston, Texas, killing 275 people
- The Ragedy Ann Doll is patented by Johnny Gruelle
- Xavier University is the 1st Black Catholic College in the USA
- Woodrow Wilson is the first president to attend a World Series game
- Ford manufactures its one millionth Model T Automobile
- 25,000 women march in New York City demanding voting rights
- Italy joins the Allies in World War I, and Bulgaria joins the Central Powers
- The biggest budget movie of its time D.W. Griffith’s, The Birth of a Nation, costs $2.00 to see. It is a splurge!
- Broadway revue Ziegfeld Follies of 1915 opens and runs for 104 performances
- Serving as a Military Doctor and Artillery Commander in The Great War, Major John McCrae writes his famous poem, “In Flanders Field,” in May 1915:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Popular Songs in 1915
Ragtime was at the peak of its popularity!
- Jack Yellen & George L. Cobb, “Alabama Jubilee”
- Irving Berlin, “Everything in America is Ragtime”
- Alma Gluck, “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny”
Popular Literature of 1915
- Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis
- Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology
- Willa Cather The Song of the Lark
- Virginia Wolf The Voyage Out
- D.H. Lawrence The Rainbow
In 1915, many notable people were born including:
- Arthur Miller- Playwright
- Orson Welles- Film Director
- Anthony Quinn- Actor
- Frank Sinatra- Singer, Actor
- Billie Holiday- Singer
- David Rockefeller- Philanthropist and Business Leader
- Edith Piaf- Singer
- Thomas Merton- Journalist, Monk
In his life, Merton quotes, “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone- we find it with one another.”
So much has happened in over a mere one hundred years! Science, technology, philosophy and art have made lightning progress. At Discovery Commons, our wonderful communities give Senior Citizens the opportunities to joyfully reminiscence about their past, while keeping them actively engaged in the future. Come visit us today and see how we can support your lifestyle.
For more information on our independent senior living programs, be sure to contact us online or give us a call at 317. 872.4567 today!
