Monthly Archives: February 2026

1986 Grocery Prices

For a snapshot of grocery prices 40 years ago, this ad for Haines Supermarkets appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on February 6, 1986. According to this inflation calculator, a dollar in 1986 is equivalent to $2.94 in 2026 dollars, so to compare, you need to triple these prices. So eggs for 69 cents are actually the equivalent of about $2 today. Ground beef for $1.49 a pound is almost $4.50 today. And the 50 cent margarine is about $1.50 today.

What would you buy for dinner if you were shopping in 1986?



1941 Home Recorder

Eighty-five years ago this month, the February 1941 issue of Popular Science showed how to put together this home recorder, which also doubled as a phonograph. The two-tube (plus rectifier) circuit could be connected to a microphone, or it could tap into the family radio to record programs. In that function, it could also serve the boost the volume of a weak station to play through the speaker.

The only part, of course, which is unobtainium today (along with the blank records) is the recording head.



Radio Scouting 1976

We were unaware that Pedro, the longtime mascot of Boys’ Life magazine until his retirement in 2022, apparently had his ham ticket, although he had become somewhat inactive in the 1970s. But when he read in Boys’ Life that there was going to be a Scout radio net, he decided to get back on the air, as documented here, in the February 1976 issue of Boys’ Life.

Elsewhere in the magazine, it was noted that the suggested time was 8:00 – 10:00 PM local time on Wednesdays, and 10:00 AM to noon Saturdays on 3940, 7290, and 14290 kHz. Scouts were encouraged to call CQ SCOUT RADIO NET.



Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

One hundred years ago, the Bismarck, ND, area experienced (not surprisingly, actually) six more weeks of winter, as predicted here by one Mr. A. Groundhog. This item appeared in the February 2, 1926, issue of the Bismarck Tribune.



1956 TV Remote Control

Seventy years ago, remote control for your television was starting to become a thing, as demonstrated by this cartoon in the February 1956 issue of Radio Electronics.