Prices – When the heck is this going to stop???
October 16th, 2007 at 09:25am Under
1964 McDonald’s opened with fifteen-cent hamburgers.
1971 The Quarter Pounder was introduced at McDonald’s for 53 cents.
I guess in 1957, Dick and I, just being married, were barely considered median income! Dick was bringing home about $3,000 a year, I was probably making $1,500 to $2,000 a year – shoot, we thought we were rich!
Listed in U.S. dollars:
1957 1969 2005 2007
Gas gallon .23 .35 2.55 3.00
Coffee pound .69 4.00
Milk - gallon .97 1.10 4.00
Eggs - dozen .45 .62 1.26
Sugar - pound .11 .51
Harvard tuition 800.00 31,665.00
New home 14,200.00 27,900. 241,400.00 212,300.00
Median income 4,900.00 8,400. 46,326.00 46,500.00
Just a few months ago, I was diligently working on getting all of almost 50 years of photographs, cards, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia into albums. I had thoughts that when Dick and I die, more than likely, the boxes of photographs would be tossed – that’s what has happened many more times than once, our friends and acquaintances tell us, when they are faced with a household of “old stuff” – everything but the silver goes out to the dumpster…
So, I was making an effort to ensure that our boys would at least look at the albums before they go into the dumpster, and maybe they would save a picture or two if they want. Anyway, made me feel so good when the chore was done – even though it was work, and took me a few months to accomplish. Now, I’ve even transferred all the video tape into CD’s – made copies and have given each boy a set. The next two jobs are going to be transferring 8 mm movies to cd’s and our slides also onto cd’s.
Anyway, as usual I digress, so back to the subject at hand. While going through our stuff, a little receipt fell out. It was from the motel that Dick and I spent our first married night in – the Maple Motel – heading toward Niagara Falls, of course – we are so conventional. And the cost? $7. yep – seven dollars – and there were no roaches. And we were traveling with two young sons when the Motel 6 started – it was actually only $6.00 a night.
And, here I go about bargains again – the chart I found on the internet above lists milk as 97 cents a gallon in 1957. I know that our eldest was born 16 months after we were married, so, that means we’re looking at around 1959 when I started buying milk in large quantities. There was more than one store in the little town we lived in, in Ohio, where we got 3 – yep, three gallons for $1.00! And years later, when we moved to
Our first home we bought was in Ohio, in 1962, we paid $12,000 for it. Two bedrooms, new neighborhood, one bath, full basement, where we added another bath right away (it had already been plumbed for it – and a car port and all.) When we bought it, we borrowed $1,000 from my parents, and paid that off completely to them within one year – at the wages we were making – and we still didn’t want for anything. . (Now homes are 20X’s that – just doesn’t make sense!) Of course, we hadn’t gotten trapped by the advertisements that make people want to pay $8.00 for a cup of coffee, just because it makes them feel important to be seen there.
So, I think the chart above represents the very highest prices of the time – at least according to what Dick and I were paying for items.Another price that will never escape my memory – because I “demonstrated” certain foods in the local Kroger store where my Daddy managed is the price of ham. Ham sold for $.29 cents for the shank end(big bone), $.39 cents a pound for the butt end(more meat than bone). Bread was 10 for $1.00. And I’m talking about 1958 and 1959.
So, how have we come to where we are now??? Inflation is not a very good thing as far as I’m concerned – just makes the dollar worth less and less. Between 1957 and 1969, home prices doubled. And median income doubled – seems as though the only people who come out on top with inflation are the people selling the products needed to print more money to our government …
By Barbie 6 comments
