For a snapshot of the cost of food during the Depression, this ad for A&P Stores appeared in the Washington Evening Star, August 17, 1933. The prices look like bargains, but money was scarce during the Depression, and there has been a lot of inflation in the years since then. According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1933 is the equivalent of $22.79 in 2022 dollars. So six cans of beans for 25 cents sounds like it would be a cheap way to eat, but that works out to about 95 cents a can today. According to this report, a coal miner in 1932 earned $13.91 per week, so even those four cents would be significant, and that assumes that someone had a job at all.

A six pack of beer was 75 cents for Pabst, or 50 cents for a brand called Michel. A pack of cigarettes cost a dime. Butter was 2 pounds for 49 cents, which works out to $5.58 per pound in today’s money. A pound of peanut butter was 12 cents, or about $2.73 in today’s money.

So even though the prices look low, pictures like that shown below were not uncommon either.

SSA.gov image.

To get an idea of grocery prices in the United States in 1923, this ad appeared in the Washington Times on August 14, 1923. Everything looks cheap, but there’s been a lot of inflation in the last 99 years. According to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1923 was the equivalent of $17.33 in 2022 money, so to compare, you need to multiply these prices by that amount.

For example, five pounds of flour was 27 cents, but that’s the same as $4.68 today. How does that compare to today’s actual price, shown below?

Similarly, a pound of butter was 52 cents, but that’s over $9 in today’s money. And 10 pounds of sugar was 83 cents, the same as $14.39 today. How does that compare to the current prices shown below?

A can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup was 9 cents, but that’s the same as $1.56 today. How does that compare?

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For a snapshot of grocery prices in 1953, this ad appeared in the July 28, 1953 edition of the Pittsburgh Press.  (You can click on the image above for a larger version.)

These prices look low, but there’s been a lot of inflation since 1953. According to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1953 is the equivalent of $11.10 in 2022 dollars. So the 25 pound bag of flour for $2.05 would be the same as $22.75 today. You can compare that to the link below, which shows today’s price for 24 pounds:

The price is pretty close, but the 1953 version contained a silver teaspoon inside the bag! And I’m guessing that more households bought flour 25 pounds at a time than they do today.

Ground beef was 2 pounds for 89 cents, which works out to $4.93 per pound in today’s money. How does that compare to today’s price below?

If you were doing your family’s grocery shopping in 1953, what would you buy? And do you think you would spend more time in the kitchen preparing dinner than you do now?

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For a snapshot of grocery prices 55 years ago, this Kroger ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Press on July 5, 1967. The prices look very low, but there’s been a lot of inflation over the intervening years. According to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1967 was the equivalent of $8.75 in 2022 dollars. So the loaves of bread look like a bargain for a quarter, but that’s the same as $2.19 in today’s money. What would you have for dinner if you bought your groceries in 1967?

Click on the image above to view a full-size copy of the ad.

For a snapshot of grocery prices in 1952, this ad for A&P Super Markets appeared in the Pittsburgh Press 70 years ago today, June 13, 1952. While the prices look low, there’s been a lot of inflation in those seven decades. According to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1952 is the equivalent of $11.03 in 2022 dollars, so to compare, you need to multiply all of these prices by 11. So 51 cents per pound for chicken sounds like a bargain, but that’s about $5.50 in today’s money. And steaks for 99 cents a pound sound cheap, but that’s really the same as $11 today.

If you were going to make dinner with what’s shown in this ad, what would you make?

For a full-size view, click on the image above.

For a snapshot of grocery prices at the end of the Roaring 20s, this ad for Kroger appeared in the Pittsburgh Press on this date, May 31, 1929.  Things were still roaring, since the 1929 Crash was still about five months away.

There’s been a lot of inflation (and some deflation) since 1929, and according to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1929 is equivalent to $16.91 in 2022 money. So you need to multiply all of these prices by 16.91 to get the equivalent.

The hams at 29 cents per pound are equivalent to almost $5 per pound today. How does that compare to today’s prices?

Bananas worked out to 93 cents per pound in today’s money. Pineapples (from Cuba) were the equivalent of $2.11. How does that compare to today’s prices?

Sugar, which probably also came from Cuba, was $1.31 for a 25 pound bag. In today’s money, that would be about 89 cents per pound. How does that compare to today’s actual price?

What would you make for dinner if these were your options?

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For a snapshot of grocery prices fifty years ago, this ad for Shop ‘n Save appeared in the Pittsburgh Press fifty years ago today, April 16, 1972. Of course, inflation took off shortly after these prices appeared. According to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1972 was the equivalent of $6.79 today, so the three pints of stawberries or 10 grapefruit for a dollar would be the same as $6.79.

The ham for $1.09 per pound works out to $7.40 per pound. Coffee was $1.89 for a three pound can, but that’s the same as $4.27 per pound in today’s money.

What do you think are the biggest bargains on this page?  (Click on the ad above for a full size image.)

For a snapshot of grocery prices 40 years ago today, this ad for Giant Eagle supermarkets appeared in the Pittsburgh Press on March 30, 1982. Easter was right around the corner, so ham was prominently featured. Depending on brand, they started at 74 cents a pound. For comparison, according to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1982 was the equivalent of $2.94 in 2022 dollars. So to get a fair picture, in round numbers, you need to multiply these prices by 3. So a dozen eggs at 56 cents are about the same as $1.50 today. Coke was 99 cents for a 2 liter bottle, the equivalent of almost $3 today.

If you have trouble reading the fine print in the PDF here, you can follow this link to go directly to the ad.

For a snapshot of grocery prices 60 years ago, this ad appeared in the Arizona Sun on March 8, 1962. There’s been a lot of inflation in that time period, and according to this online inflation calculator, one dollar in 1962 was the equivalent of $9.31 today. So the dozen eggs for 39 cents look like a bargain, but that would be the equivalent of $3.63 in today’s money.

Some items, on the other hand, really were cheaper back then. You could get three pounds of ground beef for 89 cents. That works out to the equivalent of $2.76 per pound.