Long ago, we didn't have refrigerators or washing machines. We couldn't listen to music, either. Not like we do now, anyway. So,
what did people do? Let's take a look at how people lived way back when.
Listening to Music
Today, people record music. That's why we can listen to our favorite songs over and over again. But not long ago there was no way to record sound. If people wanted music, they had to go to a concert. Or, they could learn to play an instrument.
This changed in 1877. That's when Thomas Edison invented the tinfoil phonograph. This machine recorded sound on tinfoil. There was just one problem: tinfoil can tear! So in 1886, Alexander Graham Bell made a new machine. It recorded sound on wax. The sound was hard to hear, but people were amazed to hear it.
In 1887, Emile Berliner came up with the gramophone. This machine could record and play sound on flat disks that were later called "records." Recordings could be copied onto lots of these disks. People could now play music in their homes whenever they wanted to. Imagine that!
Storing Snacks
Illustration of a smiling woman putting food in an icebox
Image credit: The Ladies' Home Journal, March 1906, p48.
Want some ice cream or a cold drink? Refrigerators make it easy to keep food fresh and safe to eat. But there were no electric refrigerators until the 1910s. So how did people keep their food cool?
People kept their food cold in a wooden "icebox." The icebox had a space at the top that held a big block of ice. The ice kept food on the lower shelves cool. When the ice melted, people could have new ice delivered.
Doing the Laundry
Black and white illustration of a woman washing clothes using an early, mechanical laundry machine
How do you do laundry? Many of us have washing machines. But back in the olden days, people had to rub their wet, soapy clothes against a rough surface to get the dirt out. It was really tiring.
The first washing machine came along in the mid-1800s. It was very different from today's machines. Here's how it worked: You'd put the soap, water, and clothes into a wooden box. Then, you'd turn a crank by hand to stir the water. The clothes got moved around in the water so dirt would come out. The machine even came with a wringer. You put the clean clothes through, and the wringer squeezed water out of them. Laundry got a lot easier!
Life has really changed over the years. Imagine what it'll be like in 100 years!
