Prices of everyday things in the Golden Era

[Mr. Sable]

Does anyone know what groceries and meals cost back then? Does anyone have any photos of diner boards of fare?

What did a Coke cost? What about a bottle of whiskey? A newspaper? A shoe shine? A cup of coffee? A plane ticket to Marrakech? Flashlight batteries? A ticket to the pictures? Bus fare? A burger and fries? Gasoline?

Anyone know the answers to these? I don't know where to begin to look.

 

[Jay]

Great idea. I've trying to find the answers since I started writing a detective story a while back. I needed to know how much coffee and cigarettes and a hat cost. I couldn't find any info and had to make up the prices. I hope someone knows a site.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I just picked up a copy of The New York Times dated May 25 1935.
Price, 2 cents in New York City.
A trip to Soviet Russia from Union Tours was $200.25 and up. 33 days.
At Knox The Hatter, straws were 4 dollars and up, Panamas, $7.50 and up.
*All in Knox Ovalized Sixteenths*
At John David, a new sports suit with "English - Yoke Back", $28.00.
The Algonquin at 59 West 44th boasted $1.50 dinners and cocktails starting at 25 cents.
At Longchamps Restaraunt, luncheon was 60 cents, dinners started at 75 cents.
At Hearns 14th Street, Special Reserve 15 year old Cognac, $2.99 a bottle.
Imported English sport shoes at Arnold Constable on sale for $4.90 a pair. Black or brown and white spectators. Regularly $10.50.
A lady's perm started at $8.50 at James McCreery & Co., 5th Avenue.
"G-Men"with James Cagney was 25 cents until 1 PM at The Strand Theater.
75 cents for luncheon at Jack Dempsey's Restaraunt.
A '34 Pontiac 2 door coupe going for $595.
A Park Avenue apartment featuring, "6 large rooms, 3 baths, piano, radio, cross - ventilation", $150 a month.
A Madison Avenue apartment, "One large attractive room, kitchenette, Electrolux, modern, $50."
A job opening for a male stenographer, 25 dollars a week.

And last but not least, a complete "dignified funeral" from Walter B. Cooke Inc. in the heart of Manhattan at 117 West 72nd for as low as $150.00.

 

[CharlieH.]

Here are a few useful bits

*In 1939, you could take trains to see both fairs (NY and SF) for $90 ($1311.15 today)
*Cokes, Pepsi:Cola and Hershey's bars cost 5 cents
*An RCA TRK-12 television set- about $395 in 1940 ( $5713.39 today)
* Jeans- about 70 to 80 cents
* Lionel train set - 10.98
* 1935 suit - $12 to $15
* 1940 Summer shoes - $1
* 1940 electric fan - $1.98
(price converter: http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/)


Now, does anybody know the price of phonograph records and 35 and 16mm film?

 

[Mr. Sable]

Thanks, boys! You're good joes no matter what everyone says.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Thanks for including a wage in there, Major Nick. Whenever my dad would mention how much something used to cost (almost every day, for example Co-cola cost a nickel) this sassy lass would ask yeah but how much did people make an hour?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Thanks, boys! You're good joes no matter what everyone says.

Surely you wouldn't listen to everyone? :fing28:

Here's a partial ad from 1936 for Scheaffer's Pens.
I wonder if anyone really won a car in that contest?,...

 

[Rosie]

Money and Inflation 1940's http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1940s.html

To provide an estimate of inflation we have given a guide to the value of $100 US Dollars for the first year in the decade to the equivalent in todays money.

If you have $100 Converted from 1940 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $1433.77 today
In 1940 a new house cost $3,920.00 and by 1949 was $7,450.00
In 1940 the average income per year was $1,725.00 and by 1949 was $2,950.00
In 1940 a gallon of gas was 11 cents and by 1949 was 17 cents
In 1940 the average cost of new car was $850.00 and by 1949 was $1,420.00
A few more prices from the 40's and how much things cost
100 asprin 76 cents From Prices for Other Goods and Services in the 40's

Philco Refridgerator $239.00

Pork Loin Roast oer pound 45 cents

Nylon Hose 20 cents From 1940's

New Emerson Bedroom Radio 1938 $19.65

Mens Suits from $24.50

Portable electric heater $42.50

Ford Super Deluxe Sedan Coupe $1395

Sealey Matress $38.00 From

From my 1936 Lane Bryant catalog:

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

99 cents is a bargain in contrast to this,...

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

A tailor made suit for $75.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

At the soda fountain.

 

[Rosie]

99 cents is a bargain in contrast to this,...

Ah, but it is SAKS after all. lol

 

[Grace]

In 1934, a 'Swanky Sports Coat with that "Custom Tailored" Look' was $13.75 at Sears. .
In 1930, a mans Fashion Tailored Suit was $19.85 with one pair of trousers, or $25 with two pair.
In 1937, a ladies bias cut lace gown was $6.98, and a mens medium weight sweatshirt was .67

 

[Twitch]

My Grandma kept a log when we traveled of costs and I recall a complete chicken dinner was like $3 in the mid-1950s. I can only speak for the St. Louis area in mid-50s where I lived then but a glass bottle of coke was 10¢ with a 1¢ deposit. I don't know whiskey since I was a kid but a newspaper was a dime too. Coffee was 10-15¢ Movies were a quarter for double feature of course.

D flashlite batteries cost .25 cents each- no AA, AAA, alkaline or recharagable quite yet. Gas was in the 14-18 cent per gallon area generally. Bus fare was 15¢ including transfers to other lines. The famous and greasy-crappy little White Castle burgers were 12¢ each! You could get a "normal" burger, fries and a coke for about 75 cents.

 

[Jupiter]

_The Value of a Dollar_...

by Scott Derks is the book you want. It has actual prices for everything under the Sun from 1860 to 2004. Amazon has it (PRICEY!), or get it from any good Library.

From Amazon's website:

Want to know what a guy had to pay for a ticket to the Tunney-versus-Dempsey heavyweight title fight in 1926? What a family had to pay for a Toastmaster Automatic pop-up toaster that same year? Perhaps you're wondering what a Sears Roly Poly combed-cotton baby gown cost in 1941, what a pound of sugar cost in 1960, how much the Szechuan seafood salad sold for at the Shun Lee Restaurant, New York City, in 1988. This engaging statistical summary presents the history of the American people through the prices they paid for a wide variety of products and services. The first section is organized into six chapters covering 20-year periods and then into subchapters covering 5-year spans. Each subchapter presents a chronology of mostly economic events; tables showing typical wages and incomes, expenditures, and investment yields; a representative "food basket" comparing prices in different cities; prices on items from alcoholic beverages to travel; and more. Following these summaries is a new section called "Pricing Trends," which tracks changes in the costs of goods and services in various categories and also show values compared to today's dollar.

Jupiter