06/24/25 Grif.Net - 1900 USA Quiz
b...@grif.net
[Imagine it is the summer of 1900 as you take this little quiz. All answers are based on the book "When My Grandmother Was a Child" by Leigh W. Ruttledge, so cannot vouch 100% for accuracy. Life today is NOT the “norm” in American history. My grandparents were teenagers in 1900, so it’s just not that long ago.]
1. In 1900, the average life expectancy in the United States was ________ years.
2. In 1900, only ____ percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.
3. In 1900, there were only ________ cars in the US.
4. In 1900, there were less than __________ miles of paved roads.
5. In 1900, a three-minute phone call from Denver to New York City cost about $________
6. In 1900, only _______ percent of the homes had a telephone.
7. In 1900, the American flag had ______ stars.
8. In 1900, California had a mere ______ residents.
9. In 1900, states like Alabama, Iowa, and Mississippi ranked ahead of California in population. Today California is first, but 125 years ago it was ranked the _______ most populous state in the Union.
10. In 1900, the tallest structure in the world was ____________________.
11. In 1900, the average wage in the US was about _________ an hour.
12. In 1900, the average US non-farm worker made about $________ per year.
13. In 1900, more than ______percent of all births in the United States took place at home.
14. In 1900, ______ percent of all US physicians had no formal college education but attended medical training schools or learned medicine with a mentor.
15. In 1900, most women washed their hair about _______ times a year and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
16.In 1900, ______ percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
17. In 1900, ______ percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
18. In 1900, there were about _________ reported murders in the entire U.S. annually.
19. In 1900, the population of Las Vegas, Nevada was __________.
20. In 1900, sugar cost ___________ a pound.
21. In 1900, only 1 in ______ people in America were of races other than white.
22. In 1900, the Eastman Kodak Company introduced the Brownie camera, priced at $_______.
23. In 1900, a first-class postage stamp cost _________.
24. In 1900, the deadliest natural disaster ever recorded in the USA happened in __________________.
25. In 1900, the population of the United States topped ______ million.
BONUS: In 1900, what was any ONE of the FIVE leading causes of death in the US? _______________
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Dr. Bob Griffin
“Abhorring all my sin, adoring only Him”
