While indexing the 1918 Janesville Daily Gazette I ran across this article: April 10, 1918, page 6 The Village of Avalon, Wisconsin lies 10 miles east of the city of Janesville. Although we all know that electricity was a very recent discovery it is really hard to believe that it came to these smaller communities just some 100 years ago. What would change if we did not have electricity? How would you take a bath, read a book or perform chores in the dark? How would you cook or boil water without electricity? How would you heat your home without electricity? How would you clean your clothes? How would you store food? Candles, kerosene lamps and fireplaces provided light in homes prior to electricity. A person had to carry a candle or lamp with them at night to move around the house or outside of the house. To cook or boil water, a fire had to be started or wood added to the stove. Sometimes women (or children) threw kerosene onto
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