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On the date

Saturday, August 18, 1906

From the day

Perspective: The Street Photographer · Sound

The brass horn of a Victrola down the block bellows "You're a Grand Old Flag," nearly drowning out the frantic shouts of newsboys hawking extras about the horrors in Valparaiso. I adjust my viewfinder on a group of men in stiff linen collars leaning against a Benz, looking fit as a fiddle despite the heavy, humid air. The smell of horse manure mingles with the sharp tang of petroleum, and I grimace at the roadside sign listing gas at $0.10 a gallon—a steep price for such rattling, noisy machines. I click the shutter just as a woman in a dust coat turns her head, her silk veil fluttering like a ghost against the backdrop of this bustling, soot-stained Saturday.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

EARTHQUAKES SHAKE VALPARAISO ALL DAY; Operator Tells of Yesterday's Terror in City. REPORTS GREAT LOSS OF LIFE Fire Breaks Out--Many Buildings Razed -- Other Towns Reported Destroyed.

Read in The New York Times →

Best-selling Sheet Music

You're a Grand Old Flag

George M. Cohan

The must-have

Rook (Card Game)

Slang

Slang of the decade

General

bullyfit as a fiddleblockhead

Aristocrat

capitalmy wordbally

Working Class

gadzooksblimeychump

Catchphrases of 1906

  • The Jungle

Tech Check

AM Radio Broadcasting, Victrola Phonograph & Sonar Concepts.

Cost of Living (1900)

Loaf of Bread

$0.05

Gallon of Gas

$0.10

Average Home

$3,200

New Car

$1,000

Time Elapsed

43,756 days ago

(119 years, 321 days)