Jump to 1922

I made a jump to 1922 using Astral Time Travel. It was a dark and gloomy era. Most people walked to their pathetic little jobs. Cars were only for the rich and petrol was expensive.

Sometimes Steven Gibbs HDR sends me to a really bad timeline.

Things were particularly bad for women. Yes, a few women had jobs but these were like seamstress and washerwoman. Two of the few careers open to women were school teacher and nurse. These jobs paid very little and there was no room for advancement. Principals were always men and women were treated badly.

It seems that many women were forced to get jobs to help their husbands pay the bills. There were few appliances to help them. Only the rich could afford a washer/dryer or an electric clothes iron. Nobody had air conditioning. Houses were stifling hot in summer, but freezing cold in winter.

Towns looked run down and sad. Most people still used horses, except in big cities were trolleys and buses were available. This was the era of the street car.

Although there were many jobs, most men worked in smoky factories for piece work. And many men lost hands due to faulty machinery. A few men came back injured from WWI. These did not find jobs and were on the streets begging. The police arrested them for vagrancy.

Police seemed to be always arresting people, except for the bootlegger gangsters. The police were terrified of the mafia. It seems that most mobsters had machine guns and a police service revolver is no match for a Tommy gun.

Few people became police as it was seen as a bottom of the barrel job taken only by losers. Most police would supplement their paltry incomes by taking bribes and they would also steal food from grocoery stores. They would eat free at diners and shakedown speakeasy owners for money.

Farmers would shoot on sight anybody that entered their field to steal corn. It seems that food in the city was expensive and most people's pay went to buy food. Houses were also expensive compared to income. For example a person now makes about $100/day and a typical rent is $1500/month. Back then typical pay was a dollar a day and rent was $20/month. Many people would share a room.

Some jobs paid well. An automobile mechanic could make as much as three dollar a day, or even five if he was good, but rich people were like real slow about paying for repairs and it might be six months until moneybags got around to paying you for repairs to his Rolls Royce.