1. Refrigerators already existed — but not everyone had one

Today, the refrigerator is such an ordinary part of life that we barely notice it.

In the 1920s, things were very different.

Electric refrigeration systems already existed, and domestic electric refrigerators were being produced. A Kelvinator electric refrigerator from around 1922 is part of the Smithsonian collection. However, the technology was not yet widespread.

The General Electric Monitor Top, introduced in 1927, became the first electric refrigerator to achieve wide popularity in American homes.

Before that — and for many years afterwards — many households used iceboxes, special cabinets cooled by large blocks of ice.

Ice was delivered regularly by an iceman. The melting water had to be drained, and fresh ice had to be supplied.

So the modern habit of simply opening a refrigerator and storing food for several days was still a relatively new idea.

The interesting paradox is this: a person living 100 years ago could already own a refrigerator, but could also live in a home where there was no refrigerator at all.

2. Keeping food fresh required much more attention

Even without an electric refrigerator, people had many ways to preserve food.

They used ice, cellars, salting, drying, smoking, pickling and canning.

An icebox could preserve food more effectively than many older methods, but it required constant attention. Ice had to be delivered, and water from melting ice had to be removed.

The modern idea of cooking something today, putting it in the refrigerator and eating it several days later became much easier with the development of reliable household refrigeration.

3. A vacuum cleaner could be a remarkable household helper

It would be wrong to imagine someone in 1926 sweeping the floor simply because vacuum cleaners had not yet been invented.

They had.

Hoover had been promoting electric vacuum cleaners since the early twentieth century, and during the 1920s such appliances were heavily advertised as modern devices that could make housework easier.

By 1925, about half of American homes had electricity, creating a growing market for household electrical appliances.

But a vacuum cleaner was still not something every family automatically owned. For many households, it was a significant modern purchase.

4. Electricity was transforming the home

The story of electricity is equally interesting.

During the 1920s, electricity was already an important part of modern urban life in some countries, but electrification was far from universal.

In the United States, about half of homes had electricity by 1925.

Electricity made a growing range of household appliances possible: electric lights, irons, vacuum cleaners, toasters and more.

For people at the time, these devices represented modernity in much the same way that new technologies do for us today.

The home was gradually becoming a place where more tasks could be performed with the help of electricity.

5. Radio could bring the whole family together

Today, every member of a family can have their own screen.

In the 1920s, things were different.

The radio receiver was becoming one of the main sources of news and entertainment. In the United States, around 1.25 million households had radios by 1924, compared with about 400,000 the year before.

Imagine an evening when the whole family gathers in one room to listen to a programme.

There is no individual choice of content.

There is no pause button.

There is no rewind.

If you miss an important part of the programme, it is simply gone.

Radio was gradually becoming a centre of home life.

6. Telephones existed, but communication was very different

The telephone was certainly not science fiction in the 1920s. It had already existed for decades.

But the modern idea of having a personal mobile phone was impossible.

A telephone was normally located in a particular place, and calls could involve telephone exchanges and operators.

For urgent communication over long distances, people also used telegraphy and telegrams.

So rapid communication already existed — but it was much less convenient than it is today.

We can now send a message to someone at any moment.

A person in 1926 would have considered waiting minutes or hours for a reply perfectly normal.

7. Taking photographs was not an everyday habit

Cameras already existed, and photography was certainly possible.

But taking a photograph was much more complicated than pulling a smartphone out of your pocket.

You needed a camera, film or another light-sensitive material, and later the photograph had to be processed.

As a result, photographs were often connected with important occasions: family portraits, weddings, celebrations and journeys.

Today a person can take hundreds of photographs in one day.

For a family in the 1920s, a small collection of good photographs could have enormous emotional value.

8. Travel was part of the adventure

Today we can cross the distance between two countries in a matter of hours.

A hundred years ago, travel was much slower.

Trains remained one of the most important ways of travelling long distances, while aviation was only beginning to develop into a commercial passenger industry.

Airplanes were no longer simply a fantasy, but mass air travel was still in its early stages.

A journey therefore required more time and preparation.

Today we often think of travel as the period between two destinations.

A century ago, the journey itself could be a major part of the experience.

9. Television already existed — but looked like science fiction

This is an area where it is particularly easy to get history wrong.

Television was not invented after 1926.

In 1926, John Logie Baird demonstrated a working television system in London. It was one of the earliest public demonstrations of television technology.

However, it was still a very long way from modern television.

The images were small and crude, and the technology remained experimental.

In 1929, the BBC began experimental broadcasts using Baird's 30-line system. Regular television service came later.

So a person in 1926 could already hear about television — but a television set was certainly not an ordinary part of everyday home life.

10. Shopping was already becoming modern

It would be wrong to imagine the 1920s as a world of tiny local shops and almost no choice.

Large cities already had department stores, chain stores and mail-order catalogues.

Advertising was growing rapidly, while mass production was making more consumer goods available.

But the scale of choice was still completely different from today's world.

Today we can compare hundreds of products online within minutes.

A person in 1926 was much more likely to choose from what was available in a local shop, department store or catalogue.

11. Things were more likely to be repaired

This is one of the differences that may be most noticeable today.

Clothes could be sewn.

Shoes could be repaired.

Furniture could be fixed.

Household objects could be restored if possible.

Of course, people in the past did throw things away.

But the modern culture of constantly replacing products with newer models had not reached today's scale.

As a result, many objects were expected to have a much longer life.

12. Free time was almost completely screen-free

Imagine an evening without the internet.

No social media.

No YouTube.

No computer games.

No endless stream of short videos.

That does not mean people were bored.

They read books and newspapers, went to cinemas, listened to music and radio, met friends, played sports, went dancing and spent time outdoors.

And here is an interesting thought:

A person in 1926 did not feel that they were missing the internet, because the internet was not part of their idea of normal life.

They simply experienced their world as normal.

Just as we experience smartphones, video calls and instant access to information as normal today.

What Would Surprise a Person from 1926 Today?

Imagine showing a person from 1926 a modern smartphone.

You explain that this tiny device is simultaneously a telephone, camera, television, map, library, music player and a way to communicate instantly with someone on the other side of the planet.

It would probably look like science fiction.

But there is another side to the story.

If a modern person suddenly found themselves in 1926, they would be confused by very different things.

Why can't I simply open the refrigerator?

Why can't I message my family?

Why can't I see the latest news immediately?

Why can't I see a photograph the moment I take it?

And what am I supposed to do tonight without the internet?

Perhaps that is exactly why the history of everyday life is so fascinating.

Major historical events change the world.

But sometimes an era is better understood through a much simpler question:

How did an ordinary person live through an ordinary day?

And when we look closely, one thing becomes obvious:

in just one hundred years, everyday life has changed almost beyond recognition.