Things the Newsies Would Have Known About
Electric Power, first used commercially in the 1870s, there were multiple domestic customer stations in Manhattan & Brooklyn by 1900 (if I see one more newsies fic where public buildings don’t have electricity, i’m going to spontaneously combust).
Cars, the first modern car was invented in 1886 & NYC had about 2600 cars by 1900, mixed in with horse drawn carriages, handcarts, and trolleys.
Streetlights, electric ones invented 1875, the USA had arc lighting by 1890 and incandescent bulbs within ten years of that. NYC had over 11000 electric streetlamps by 1884.
Coca Cola, invented c.1885, it was sold as medicine for 5¢ a glass in bottles that looked like this but with corks. Pepsi-Cola started in 1898.
Fig Newtons, invented 1891 with eight more bakeries started in 1899.
Peanut Butter, invented in the 1880s by George Washington Carver.
Jello, sold under a variety of names since 1845.
Disposable Paper Straws, invented 1888 by Marvin Stone.
Matchbooks (1889), Modern Zippers (1893), Rubber Shoe Soles (1896), Rollercoasters (1898), Heinz Ketchup (1876), Telephones and Microphones (1876).
Escalators (1891) created as a novelty ride at Coney Island. Fun!
Movies, invented in the 1890s, the first films with plots were shown in 1900, but public movie theaters weren’t a thing until at least 1905.
Color Photographs, additive color systems were used in 1899, though you could only produce two tones and it wasn’t commercial until 1907.
Contact Lenses, 1887, made of glass & intended to cover the whole eye
Fax Machines, weirdly enough, were invented in 1843.
The Pledge of Allegiance, written in 1892.
Text Emojis, in newspapers since at least 1881. ( ಠ ͜ʖರೃ)
“OK” which had been in use since 1839.
The Middle Finger, which had been around since at least 1886 (revived from Ancient Greece).
Things They May Have Known About
the concept of teenager, since the word only began showing up in 1899 (and this is why “all children under 21″ is a thing in Newsies).
Paper Clips, brand new that year in 1899 (American patent 1900/1901).
Vacuum Cleaners, invented 1899 and advertised in the papers.
Neon Signs. Neon was discovered in 1898 and neon tube lighting was invented in 1902. Not popular until the early 1920s, however.
Dinosaurs, the term was first used in 1842 (though it disappeared from use from 1887 to the 1970s), the first (essentially) complete skeleton was found in 1859, but the first fossil didn’t go on display in New York until 1902 (it was a T-Rex!).
Things They Would Have Had An Idea About
Crossword puzzles didn’t begin showing up in newspapers until 1913.
Supermarkets began consolidating the shopping experience in 1916.
The USA abbreviation for America showed up in the 1920s. Previously it would have been called “the Union” or simply “the US”.
Sliced Bread, invented 1912/1928. Penicillin (1928). Bandaids/Adhesive Bandages (1920). Automatic Wrist Watches (1923). Facial Tissue/Kleenex (1914/1924). Stainless Steel (1913). Bubble Gum (1928). Teddy Bears (1902). Traffic Signals (1923). Tea Bags (1908). Paper Cups (1908). Radio Broadcasting (1906)
Airplanes, the Wright brothers wouldn’t do the Kitty Hawk flight until 1903.
Adhesive Tape was invented in 1928.
Can Openers, even though canned food had been around since 1772, people would have opened the tins with knives.
And finally, The Empire State Building, which wasn’t constructed until 1930.
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