Comparing 2018 and 1918...Are we happier?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JamalChristophr
  • Start date Start date
JamalChristophr said:
I wonder sometimes, too, if we might be better off spiritually 100 years ago before mass media, the information age, and communication came along.
Click to expand...
I think families might have been closer. Mom of course was probably home even if the family wasn’t rich.
 
Well, I, for example, must say that I rather envy St. Therese of Lisieux who went to her true homeland in 1897 at the age of 24.

(People always have considered me a little warped, however, to a greater or lesser degree.)
 
Last edited:
Pup7 said:
I think families might have been closer. Mom of course was probably home even if the family wasn’t rich.
Click to expand...
That’s a double edged sword. Plenty of unhappy traditional families. Lots of people considered it not their business to interfere no matter what was going on. And if you were a girl it was a lot harder to leave at 18 - there’s a lot of women who also made bad marriages because it got them out of a bad family.
 
Of course that’s true - no one would deny that.

But the entire era wasn’t bleak and doom for the whole nation.
 
DarkLight said:
Yup - I know full well kids like me didn’t survive in 1918. I battled antibiotic resistance for years. Kid like me in 1918 was sickly and finally died in pain after a few years. The problem was eventually mostly fixed surgically, and then with the addition of some very basic treatments.
Click to expand...
In 1973 I wasn’t expected to live to see two.

In 1873 I would’ve probably been stillborn.

Right there with you on that one for sure.

And my family was German. German Catholics. (Laughs) Can you IMAGINE??

Just whipped the Kaiser.

Your LAST NAME is Kaiser.

Awesome.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm 1918. Could still get a few vacuum tubes. Quality not so good. Probably could contribute to advancing the state of the art. Lots of room to put up antennas. Ok.
 
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Geek cubed.
 
It’s not.

I’ve just been reading the Call the Midwife books - which are much later. Some of the stories…well, let’s just say the one with the prostitute made me want to cry. She was just a little girl and the society at the time treated her like a hopeless criminal (and it’s very clear in the story that she’s at most 15).
 
Oh, I"m flexible. There’s still room for variation. Creativity. Gotta have it. I"m impressed with the historical perspective that everyone has shared actually. It’s been a good thought exercise for me.
 
Call the Midwife is the late 1940s, isn’t it?

It’s hard to find now, but go look for a show called Casualty 1918 or London Hospital (the US title). It’s based off of actual patient records found in the The Royal London Hospital in the East End from that year.

Absolutely fascinating stuff. Used to be on Amazon Prime; I think you have to pay for it now. But totally worth it if you like history.
 
Last edited:
Late 50’s to early 60’s.

The show is positively cheery compared to the books.
 
England was still recovering from WWII. My in-laws and to some extent my husband pooh-pooh what the US put up with in the wake of WWII (and really, fair enough) because they were rationing there until the sixties for some things. I bet it is bleak in a lot of ways.
 
Yeah there’s a lot of desperate poverty in them. But it really makes some points. Life wasn’t so bad by then if family was good and supportive - and a lot of people who had good families really did have happy lives. The community was very supportive. But it could be very bad if someone was an outsider or didn’t have a good family.

There was also some interesting discussion of how the medical community’s recommendations didn’t always fit well with the lives of the women. The midwives were valued in part because they actually worked with the poor where they were at and knew what their lives were like.
 
Last edited:
I think I’d just flip a coin for the choice. That’s me.

Mother Cabrini would have died just one year before. Also, there was the miracle of Fatima to hear about. That would be exciting. Katherine Drexel was sixty at the time. She is one of my favorite saints.

Plenty of opportunities for ho9iness. 🙂
 
Last edited:
DarkLight said:
Yeah there’s a lot of desperate poverty in them. But it really makes some points. Life wasn’t so bad by then if family was good and supportive - and a lot of people who had good families really did have happy lives.
Click to expand...
You’re the first person I’ve met who’s read them. I might check them out now. Good recommendation.
 
Last edited:
I like St Katharine Drexel. But I’m half Philadelphian so that might be by default. 💓

Aren’t they the same Drexels who were Drexel University?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top