A Day In The Life: Comparison and Contrast, Now and Then December 6 2013/1913

Sort of an interesting exercise, to compare daily activities now as compared to some earlier time.   In this case, let's look at December 6, 2013 vs December 6, 1913, just to see how things are different.

 Tucumcari, New Mexico 1913

December 2

0500  Got up to the sound of my son going out to plug in the 1/2 ton truck. Temperature -20F.

Turned heat up a bit as it was cold in the house.

0505  Made coffee with coffee maker, poured a bowl of cereal for breakfast (Cheerios) and read the Casper Star Tribune.

0530  Shaved

0545  Ironed a shirt.

0600  Turned on computer, checked email, etc.

0710  Fired up pickup.

0730  Took daughter to school and drove to work.

0800  Arrived at work, fired up work computer, checked work emails and started int.

0900  Participate in telephone conference call hosted in Houston.

1000  Resumed working on pleadings.

1210 Took a break for lunch.

1300  Resumed working on pleadings, different case.

1530  Remembered the office was doing the firm tree with accompanying small party when secretary and paralegal reminded me.

1600  Finished up pleadings and joined party late.

1730  Came home.

1800  Ate dinner with family.

1900  Watched movie (The Memphis Belle) on television.

Okay, so what would have happened in 1913, under similar circumstances?

Well, probably something like this:

0500 Get up.  Probably the only one up.

0505  Do something furnace wise, not quite sure what.  It'd be really cold inside the house, however.

0510. Put some wood in the kitchen stove and light it.

0520  Put a coffee pot on the kitchen stove and start boiling coffee.  Probably put a pan of water on the stove also to start boiling water for oatmeal.

0530  Coffee probably done.  Oatmeal probably not quite.

0535  Oatmeal probably done, take off stove to cool event.

0540-0600.  Eat breakfast and drink coffee, while reading the morning Casper paper.

0600 Shave.  This would involve a straight razor and whipping soap chips into lather. Something folks don't do much now.

0615 Get dressed.  Hopefully I'd have a starched shirt ready to go as otherwise I'd to iron one, which would be quite a process as irons were heated on a stove at that time.

0700  Walk to work.

0730  Arrive at work and to the typical work for a law office of the period.

1200-1300  Take a break for lunch.

1300-1800  Typical law office work for the day.

1800  Walk home.

1830  Get home and warm up.

1900  Eat dinner

1930  Help do the dishes, no automatic dishwasher in those days.

2000 Read evening paper.  Most towns had a morning and evening paper in those days.

2030  Read a book

Quite a bit different in a lot of ways.