# Time-travel back to 1900: How weird would I seem to them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347 "2008-06-18T15:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/61 "2008-06-19T17:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] (Oh, and be sure to get a full round of vaccines. … TB… and I don’t even know if we can vaccinate against diphtheria, typhoid, and cholera, though we’d better learn if the flooding gets much worse. Taking back multiple rounds of antibiotics would be wise.) [/QUOTE] The [T-dap](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDAP) will take care of diphtheria, and there is currently no dependable vaccine for TB, [BCG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_Calmette-Gu%C3%A9rin) notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/62 "2008-06-19T18:18:54Z")
[QUOTE=astro] I agree, some people in this thread seem to keep losing track of the point that this was just over 100 years ago. It was not that long ago. A lot of the stuff we believe today was in early stages, but it was certainly present in the Zeitgeist. 1900 also had a fair amount of ongoing technical and medical accomplishment. People seem to think 1900 was akin to colonial times or something. It wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination. [/QUOTE] I agree 100%. I grew up in a very small town on the Louisiana/Texas border. It has a classic main street that is about 500 yards long with buildings on both sides. The kicker for me is that our family owned a hardware/general store that was completed in 1900 along with most other buildings on the street. We still owned it until I was ten years old and it never had true renovations and we still sold the same categories of things my great-grandparents did back then. We even had many things like shelving and fixtures still in use. I have seen it in many old pictures. My great-grandparents had this monstrous 6000 square foot house where my grandfather and his siblings grew up. Not only did I know the house personally, my great-grandmother still lived there when I a kid. We used to visit her frequently. She was about 18 in 1900. If I went back to my hometown, not only would I already know our store, but most other buildings on main-street and I would already know my great-grandmother and probably a number of other people as well. I have the same first and last name as my great-grandfather. I could just show him my drivers license. He wouldn’t know exactly what it was but it should be easy to explain. I may have to try time-travelling back there tomorrow. It should be a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/63 "2008-06-20T02:55:20Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I may have to try time-travelling back there tomorrow. It should be a hoot. [/QUOTE] Remember to take along a list of horse racing winners. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/64 "2008-06-20T04:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=Typo Knig] I would also add: allergy meds. My allergies are under much better control than ten years ago, between better meds and surgery. The surgery would have been a bigger hassle, and probably less effective, a decade ago. [/QUOTE] Speaking as someone who has had really horrible allergies his whole life, things haven’t changed much… I first started receiving allergy shots in 1976 for about 5 years… and just started them again this year… not much change there. And while the pharmaceutical companies keep telling me their allergy meds are better than ever, Actifed still works for me when necessary… and it was invented in the 50’s… But glad to hear your surgery and meds are working! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/65 "2008-06-20T05:38:17Z")
Seek out Edison, annoy him by showing off how clever you are. “You might wanna try some Tungsten in there, Ed.” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/66 "2008-06-20T17:06:49Z")
What about profanity? In this day and age, casual usages of “damn” or “shit” don’t generally raise much consternation (obviously, this depends on your peer group). Was such language acceptable then, or would it be horribly shocking to mutter? And was it the same profanity? Would choice words like “fuck” still be understood 108 years ago? Were there some words they used as epithets that we wouldn’t get today? ---
**Author:** ![OneTimePlz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@OneTimePlz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneTimePlz)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/67 "2008-06-20T19:50:58Z")
You would have to resist the urge to bring any money, coins or bills, with you on your trip (unless you can find pre-1900 currency on ebay). If you could find daily stock tickers from 1900 or old horse racing/baseball scores, you could work for a few days as a laborer, and then turn a few bucks into thousands pretty quickly, as long as you kept using different bookies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/68 "2008-06-20T20:00:05Z")
Women would have trouble with their clothing. Going from little bras, shirts and slacks to full corsets and long dresses would be hell for me. And oh yeah, I couldn’t say “hell” or “damn.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/69 "2008-06-20T20:45:27Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] What about profanity? In this day and age, casual usages of “damn” or “shit” don’t generally raise much consternation (obviously, this depends on your peer group). Was such language acceptable then, or would it be horribly shocking to mutter? And was it the same profanity? Would choice words like “fuck” still be understood 108 years ago? Were there some words they used as epithets that we wouldn’t get today? [/QUOTE] The creators of **Deadwood** ran into this problem. The show is set in the 1870s. Historically accurate profanity would sound either too mild or too weird for modern audiences. _Blasphemy_ was the most shocking thing one could say back then and I doubt things would’ve changed much in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/70 "2008-06-20T20:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Atomicktom] And was it the same profanity? Would choice words like “fuck” still be understood 108 years ago? [/QUOTE] Well, “fuck” is a lot older than 108 years. But what you might run into is the phenomenon of people brought up in polite society without ever having been exposed to such words, and who wouldn’t understand them because they hadn’t ever heard them before. You’d be understood down by the docks, but not necessarily in a lady’s drawing room. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/71 "2008-06-20T21:02:57Z")
From post #9, > [@](#): > > Imagine how you would respond if you met someone today who didn’t know how to dial a telephone. Take a rotary dial phone into a school today and see how strange it is. One would go bonkers looking at all the precious antiques! I would get put in a sanitarium for all the drool 😛 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/72 "2008-06-20T22:21:10Z")
[QUOTE=Typo Knig] Going back to 1900 is so 1999 😉 Web sites for **The 1900 House** : The Mom, who was the most keen to go on the “time travel” show, was the one who had to most work to do in 1900. She looked very happy to run her washing machine when she was back in her 1999 house. I really enjoyed the “time travel” documentaries. I hesitate to call them reality shows because, these are real. Personally, I would have a hard enough time going back to 1998 or 1988 technology - I would not want to go back to the Nineteen Aughts. [/QUOTE] I would love to do one of those shows but they would not tke me for several reasons. I am not photogenic, I am handicapped and I am too accomplished as a medieval recreationist to fall into the pitfalls the idiotic family did in 1900 house. The damn fool worked too hard because she refused to work the maid of all work hard enough. The kids barely had any chores and any they did have they did half arsed. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/73 "2008-06-20T22:53:26Z")
-it was a Rod Serling story-basically a rich old masells his soul to the devil, in order to return to his hometown in 1900. He figures he’ll do much better in life-because he knows: -about a massive oil deposit under some worthess land -he will marry the prettiest girl in town -he will tell the town blacksmith how to build an automobile self-starter (and become a jillionaire) Only things go considerably awry! The oil is under 1000 feet of swamp-undrillable in 1900! the girl is a dog. The blacksmith has no idea what the guy is babbling about. And Satan double-crosses him-he is still and old man in a young body. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/74 "2008-06-20T23:55:08Z")
That episode is actually, “Of Late I Think of Cliffordsville”. “A Stop at Willowby” was a different story. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/75 "2008-06-21T03:31:56Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] If you are female, you job options are wife/mother, potential wife/mother, teacher, typist telegrapher or whore. [/QUOTE] Housemaid, washerwoman, seamstress, nurse, factory worker, cook … ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/76 "2008-06-21T15:45:30Z")
You might want to read a thriller entitled, “The Alienist,” by Caleb Carr. > **[The Alienist: Carr, Caleb: 9780812976144: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Alienist-Caleb-Carr/dp/0812976142)** > > The Alienist \[Carr, Caleb\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Alienist As I remember, the author really captured turn-of-the-century NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/77 "2008-06-21T15:58:26Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] The creators of **Deadwood** ran into this problem. The show is set in the 1870s. Historically accurate profanity would sound either too mild or too weird for modern audiences. _Blasphemy_ was the most shocking thing one could say back then and I doubt things would’ve changed much in 30 years. [/QUOTE] Seriously? Blasphemy was the most shocking thing? What the hell did they use to say a simple sentence like, “that new evolution thing is blasphemy.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/78 "2008-06-21T16:21:43Z")
I have not read all this thread, but as I am inordinately fond of time-travel stories, it sparked me thinking what sort of skills a voyager to 1900 would be able to use. A concert pianist would be able to make a good living and use his general knowledge to steer mankind from the horror of leisure suits. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/79 "2008-06-21T16:30:00Z")
[QUOTE=Alex\_Dubinsky] Seriously? Blasphemy was the most shocking thing? What the hell did they use to say a simple sentence like, “that new evolution thing is blasphemy.” [/QUOTE] I think the post means saying things like “goddam it” or “ferkristsake” were considered worse than “damn” or “hell.” Never say “Goddam you to hell.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347/80 "2008-06-22T14:43:52Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] That’s a little bit of an overstatement. There were vegetarian restaurants and vegetarian clubs (and, in fact, the International Vegetarian Congress met in Paris in 1900), and it was around 1900s that vegetarian recepies started showing up in womens’ and homemaking magazines. Vegetarianism wasn’t common or popular, but it existed and had its adherants. [/QUOTE] 7th Day Adventists, too, and the related Kellogg bunch in Battle Creek - see the movie “Road to Wellville”. Also of course, some Hindu and Buddhist sects. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-travel-back-to-1900-how-weird-would-i-seem-to-them/453347.md?page=5)