Born in 1880

It seems like every day we hear about the rate at which technology is changing things, and the difficulties experienced by some just to keep apace of things. Now, I don’t expect the media to have anything good to say, so why don’t we just sit back, get a beer, and make a brief comparison.

We are going to compare the lives of two men born into two different eras, but both of whom were born into middle America. The first, Mr. 1880, was born in 1880, lived 70 years, and died in 1950. The second, Mr. 1950, was born in 1950, lived to be 70, and died in 2020.

Mr. 1880 didn’t have indoor plumbing in his early years, although by the time he was a young man, it was becoming the norm for new construction. Mr. 1950 had indoor plumbing all his life. The faucets, tubs, and sinks looked different over the years, but they really didn’t work any differently.

If we move on to the kitchen, Mr. 1880 had an ice box, and a wood burning stove at birth but had a refrigerator and gas or electric stove for most of his life. Mr. 1950 had a refrigerator and stove all of his life, although the styling changed over the years. Blenders, toasters and other such conveniences were unknown to Mr. 1880 for many years, but were always a part of Mr. 1950’s life. The microwave oven is one item that Mr. 1880 would find puzzling. If he had seen Mr. 1950’s microwave, he’d likely have thought that it was one of those televisions that he heard about in the final years of his life and hauled it off to the living room and stared at it.

Speaking of TVs! Mr. 1880 probably never owned one, and may have never viewed one, whereas Mr. 1950 probably remembered his parents jumping for joy as the delivery truck pulled up and two men carried it into the living room. This was likely when he was 10 or 12 years old. At the time of his death, we still had TVs, it’s just that they were bigger, cheaper (adjusted for inflation), and of much higher picture quality.

Personal communications? The telephone was invented a few years before Mr. 1880 was born, but not common in households until he was nearing mid-life. In his younger days people relied on the telegraph, which was something like texting, but I’ll leave that one alone for now. Mr. 1950 always had voice communication, it simply became portable and less expensive.

Cars didn’t exist early in Mr. 1880’s life, but by the time of his death, there were many of them. By the time Mr. 1950 died, there were too many of them.

A trip from New York to London took about 6 days in 1880, but about 15 hours on a modern airliner in 1950. By 2020 it had come down to 7 hours. Mr. 1950 may have remembered his parents taking his to the airport around 1960 to see a new Boeing 707 which cruised (depending upon model) at speeds of up to 621mph. Towards the end of his life he may have traveled on a Boeing 777 which cruises at up to 560 mph. Yes, the first jetliners went a little faster, probably due to fuel usage and cost.

Mr. 1880 grew up in a world in which mom spent long hours preparing meals and shopping was done at the butcher shop, the bakery and so on. He probably didn’t see a supermarket until he was in his 40s or older. Mr. 1950 never knew a time without them.

I’m not going to keep giving examples, it’s just that Mr. 1880 seems to have seen entirely new devices and luxuries, going from the power of a horse to horsepower, from no electricity to plentiful electricity and the beginning of electronics. Mr. 1950 largely saw great improvements in, and the evolution of, things and ideas that already existed when he was either born, or shortly thereafter.

So the next time you hear about all of the changes that we are experiencing, consider the changes that Mr. 1880 lived through.

It’s something to think about.