It's fascinating how time changes the value of things. What we now consider everyday items were once luxuries only a few could afford. From simple household gadgets to basic food items, let's take a look back at 10 things that were considered luxuries 100 years ago but are now just part of our everyday lives.
AUTHOR: Alimi Samuel
Table of Contents
- 1. Telephones
- 2. Radios
- 3. Vacuum Cleaners
- 4. Washing Machine
- 5. Cars
- 6. Toilets with Running Water
- 7. Microwave Ovens
- 8. Computers
- 9. Air Travel
- 10. Refrigerators
- 12 Life Secrets From People Over 70 You'll Wish You Knew Sooner
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- 12 Ingredients That Can Ruin Your Dish
1. Telephones
A hundred years ago, you'd have to be worth your weight in gold to afford a telephone. It was the exclusive purchase of the super-rich, who, in addition to installing the telephone line, had to pay handsomely to maintain its service. What's odd is not having a phone these days; an example of a grand shift in the plummeting cost of an item over a century.
2. Radios
In the 1920s, radios were the closest thing to the Tesla Model S of Today. They ran on large batteries and required periodic charging using a generator set. You have to be wealthy to own one. Today, radios have become so cheap they'll make for an odd gift. Most smartphones come with one, and people do not need to build a 20th-century EV station to listen to their favorite talk show host.
3. Vacuum Cleaners
Vacuum cleaners were not only available to people who had the financial capacity to purchase one, but you had to be well-off to afford the electricity they ran on as well. We now have vacuum cleaners that do not require electricity to run, are a thousand times cheaper than they used to be, and are far more effective.
4. Washing Machine
A washing machine in the home meant you were a royalty, a business mogul, or someone of enviable significance a hundred years ago. The wringer-type single tube of the 1900s had cutthroat prices and wasn't as commonplace as they are today.
5. Cars
Cars have been around for a while, but they have not always been for everyone. A hundred years ago, cars were a plaything of the rich, and you'd need a good salary to purchase one. Henry Ford's introduction of the Model T Ford cheapened prices, changing the industry pricing dynamics. Anyone in most cities of the world can get a vehicle easily today.
6. Toilets with Running Water
It feels strange to have this on our list, but the ever-present provision in modern homes was a rarity, earmarked for those who could pay large sums for plumbing works. Today, almost every home has the luxury of toilets with running water in them, and no one even considers such basics as a luxury.
7. Microwave Ovens
Having a microwave oven is so typical we won't spare a thought towards it. The first commercially available microwave oven, Radarange, had an average price of $495 at the time. Today, another can order a midrange microwave oven for $70 on Amazon.
8. Computers
Computers weren't always commercially available, and having access to one meant you were either part of the development team, high-ranking in the military, or stupendously wealthy. Other than the slow, bulky make of computers from nearly eighty or more years ago, they were expensive and would be considered limited compared to the superfast Dells and Macs of the modern era.
9. Air Travel
Commercial air travel was costly years ago. Thanks to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1979, air travel has become more affordable, and regular families can now fly to destinations of their choice without having to break the bank like their grandparents.
10. Refrigerators
Around the 1920s, when refrigerators became commercially available, they sold for, at the cheapest, $500, which is worth about $6500 today. Over a hundred years since they hit the market, they are no longer considered luxury and have become a common home appliance like nearly everything else that has lost its worth in the last century.
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