30 Everyday Items From the Early 1900s vs What They Look Like Today

Technological advances have not only impacted our lives in various ways, but they also have improved the products and objects we use in everyday life. As new materials come into the industry of mass-produced products, they become available to everybody. Clever engineering keeps improving the household objects that we already have, making our experience easier and more effective. For instance, washing machines used to be completely manual and required a lot of physical effort. It ended up being a workout session!

But today washing machines are automatic, powered by electricity and have a large variety of washing cycles to choose from. Phones have experienced the most radical transformations, we have seen it in our lifetime. Each year smartphones improve their design and expand their functionalities and storage capacity. The first telephone used to be a bulky device and could only be used to make or receive phone calls. Today, cellphones are as big as the palm of your hand and are as sophisticated as computers. The Internet can be accessed through them and they have high-definition cameras to take pictures. You won’t believe how things like cash registers, traffic lights and even dogs used to look like not long ago.

Playgrounds

Kids love to play and socialize, it’s part of their healthy development, which is why playgrounds have always been so popular. As you can see here, there are many differences between modern playgrounds and the ones from the early 1900s.

The monkey bars of the old ones are incredibly high and seem quite dangerous. But the modern monkey bars are lower and made out of plastic as well as metal and many other safe materials.

Calculators

For many decades, calculators have been every student’s best friend during math quizzes. But they weren’t always so practical and user friendly. As you can see in the picture, old calculators resembled a typewriter.

They were used to perform simple calculations since they could not carry out complex scientific tasks. Modern calculators are much smaller and a lot easier to use. They can perform an array of complex calculations and the results come out instantly.

Showers

Taking a shower is much more practical for everyday use than bathtubs, it’s quicker and less water is used. But back in the day, showers looked quite different. It had a round metal cage structure with a cloth shower curtain. It also didn’t allow much freedom of movement.

Nowadays, the designs are much more spacious and they tend to be square in shape. A bench can even be incorporated inside you can shower sitting down.

Phones

Phones have experienced radical changes ever since they were invented. Old phones could only be used to make or receive phone calls, they depended on cables for connectivity and very few houses had them.

Today, smartphones are a big part of our way of communicating with the world. They are wireless which allow you to carry your phone wherever you go. They contain useful apps, access to the internet, and have high-definition cameras incorporated.