Gleaned from the Pioneer Press:
• Telephone service for everyone was to be available after June 1, 1899. The cost: $30 a year for 400 calls from a person’s residence.

• Books for children were advertised for 2¢ at St. Paul Book & Stationery.
• The new postage letter rate from Canada was lowered from 3¢ to 2¢.
• One flat (apartment) was advertised for $25 a month...6 rooms with bath and steam heat. It did not mention electricity, which was still a luxury for upscale homes.• An iron stove “Base Burner” promised “Radiant Home Heat” in an ad from October, l898.

What would be on a person’s Christmas shopping list then? • “Pure linen handkerchiefs” were recommended, as well as French and Austrian china from Field, Schlick & Co.• Place-settings of four were advertised at $5.50 and $6.00, up to $50 a dozen. • A child’s carpet sweeper was 12¢ in December of l898, and boys’ and girls’ sleds were 20¢. • Doll carriages could be had for $1.45 to $3.45, and “tenpins” were 5¢ a box.

• Christmas trees could be bought from the Ramaley Floral Exchange on St. Peter Street, in St. Paul.

Photographs were reproduced in the news sections of the paper, and photography spilled over into the ads too. “Cameras at a reduced price,” shouted a headline. “Gems, Rays, Pico, Premo, Adlake, Cyclone, Peek-a-Boo cameras at Half Price!”

A large ad beckoned “Amateur Photographers! Have your developing and finishing done by J. H. Dickey, 910 New York Life Bldg.”
There was a want-ad for a Kodak 5x7 Monroe. In another retail ad, cameras were offered for 25¢ with the purchase of boys’ clothing.

Autos were just beginning to appear around 1900, and within 10 years there were several auto dealers in St. Paul. It is not surprising that the number of livery stables for horses began to decline. Electric-powered streetcars had been popular for 10 years, but horses still pulled carriages and delivery wagons. Mostly, as Granddad would say with a grin, they used "shanks' mare." (They walked.)

Sports: Boys played hockey, kids used sleds and skates in the winter, played baseball and swam in the summer. The St. Paul Athletic Club offered men the chance to tone their bodies (and also play pool). Here's a member boxing in 1901.