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On the date

Friday, May 8, 1908

From the day

Perspective: The Anxious Local · Sound

The roar of those infernal gasoline carriages is deafening, and blimey, the price of a loaf has climbed to five cents while everyone obsesses over that New York to Paris race. I squinted at the broadsheet through the dust, reading how they’ll allow Thomas car a lead of 15 days because the French committee finally gave the Americans their due, while the Protos sits 30 days behind. It’s all madness, especially with the Russians arranging fuel across Siberia just so these rich men can play at danger. I hummed a bit of "Shine On, Harvest Moon" to drown out the clatter of the street, wondering how we’re meant to afford a life when even the air smells of exhaust and expensive ambition.

Memories from that day

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The Headlines

ALLOW THOMAS CAR A LEAD OF 15 DAYS; French Auto Race Committee Decide for American Crew in Auto Race. PROTOS 30 DAYS BEHIND Russian Committee Has Completed Arrangements for the Supply of Gasoline on Siberian Route.

Read in The New York Times →

Best-selling Sheet Music

Shine On, Harvest Moon

Nora Bayes & Jack Norworth

The must-have

Rook (Card Game)

Slang

Slang of the decade

General

bullyfit as a fiddleblockhead

Aristocrat

capitalmy wordbally

Working Class

gadzooksblimeychump

Catchphrases of 1908

  • Take me out to the ball game

Tech Check

Ford Model T (Assembly Line), Geiger Counter & Cellophane.

Cost of Living (1900)

Loaf of Bread

$0.05

Gallon of Gas

$0.10

Average Home

$3,200

New Car

$1,000

Time Elapsed

43,127 days ago

(118 years, 57 days)