Imagine

Imagine.

Imagine yourself living 50 years ago. TVs were black and white. Cars were very big but roomy and comfortable. Gas was cheap at around 25 cents a gallon. But few people made more than $1 an hour. Average annual income for men was around $3800, for women about $1200. There were no personal computers, no skateboards, no I-pods, no cellphones. There were car phones but these were actually radios and handled as such by operators for the phone company. And they were very rare. Music was on AM radio or on a phongraph record, made of ceramic or hard vinyl. Movies were the main public entertainment venue. Indoor and outdoor theaters were popular. Popcorn was 10 cents a bag. Most films were still in black and white but color was becoming more popular.

Imagine yourself living 100 years ago. Automobiles were extremely rare and called, for the most part, "horseless carriages". Airplanes were a novelty, a new invention. Gaslamps provided light, indoor plumbing was rare and only in cities. Average income was less than $400 a year. There were relatively few movie houses, films were silent and short. Child labor was common, as were 6 day work weeks and 12 hour workdays.

Imagine yourself living 150 years ago. Slavery was still legal in 15 states out of the 32 that made up the country. No cars, no airplanes, no buses. You walked or rode a horse. No movies, no electricity. Kerosene lamps or candles lit your house. If you were fortunate, there was a cast iron stove for cooking. Rural homes were most likely still cooking over the fire in the fireplace. Which also provided the heating.

Now, try to imagine what it will be like 50 years from today. Or even 10 years in the future. In fact, write down your predictions and store them away. Then, in 2019, retrieve them and see how far off the mark you were.