For a snapshot of grocery prices in 1949, this ad for A&P stores appeared in the August 12, 1949 edition of the Chapel Hill (NC) Weekly.

The basics of a good dinner could be put together for about $2.29. Two pounds of roast beef would be $1.30, which could be served with two pounds of green beans for a quarter. A loaf of bread would be 18 cents. A pound of grapes was 15 cents, and a pound of coffee was 41 cents.

That sounds like a bargain, but there’s been a lot of inflation since 1949. According to this inflation calculator, that $2.29 works out to $29.36 in 2023 dollars. Maybe we’ll put back that roast beef and instead get some fish for 33 cents a pound.