This story, Benjamin Makes His Mark, takes place when there are no telephones in the beginning of the story, at least for most of the country people, no central heating, no electric sweepers, and no electric refrigerators yet. They have a cabinet with a square box outlined in metal. This holds a block of ice.
They use wood and coal for cooking and baking. They have a parlor heater to heat the living room, and the kitchen stove heats the kitchen. Some people have a fireplace in both the living room and in the kitchen and some in a bedroom upstairs.
They grow most of their food and raise livestock for their milk, butter, and meat and raise chickens for eggs and for the meat. They also raise a few geese or turkeys and have their own clucks (breeding chickens).
Most of the clothing is sewed with a sewing machine you pedal for power, no electric sewing machines yet.
There is no transportation to school (one-room schoolhouses), no taxi, or bus. Some towns have a trolley. There are trains and no airplanes. Horses are used for the family transportation.
No bowling alleys, tennis courts, and golf courses; just baseball played in the fields by the children.
Some farms still use kerosene lamps and candles; they are not yet hooked up to electric.
Cleaning the outhouse (outside toilet) is a very difficult job but must be done once a year and lime thrown in the pit below.
