For an idea of how much groceries cost during the Depression, this ad appeared 85 years ago today in the August 11, 1936, issue of the Pittsburgh Press.

The prices look like bargains, but for many, cash was scarce, and there’s been a lot of inflation since then. According to this inflation calculator, a dollar in 1936 is the equivalent of $19.55 today. So a pound of coffee or a pound of wieners sounds like a bargain for a quarter, but that’s almost $5 per pound in today’s money.

The ham patties sound good, and I’d probably be convinced to hand over a silver quarter and a silver dime to get a pound. And they were appropriate for breakfast, luncheon, or dinner, so you can’t really go wrong. But if that was too expensive, the fresh sea trout was only a dime a pound. As with anything, it “would be priced higher if it were not as plentiful as it is.”

For a snapshot of what groceries cost in the 1930s, here the ad for A&P stores that appeared 90 years ago today, August 3, 1931 in the Washington Evening Star.  (You can click on the image to see the full size version.)  The prices look like bargains, but there has been a lot of inflation in 90 years. According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1931 is the equivalent of $17.87 in 2021 dollars.

So the one pound loaf of bread for a nickel is the equivalent of 89 cents today, which is about what one would expect to pay. But if you want to butter your bread, it’s two pounds for 59 cents, which works out to about $5.28 per pound. And eggs start at 29 cents a dozen, but that’s over $5 in today’s money.

Frankfurters are 30 cents a pound, but that is over $5 today. Depending on the brand, coffee ranged from 19 cents to 29 cents per pound. That’s relatively inexpensive, since it’s the equivalent of $3.33 to $5.09.

What item do you think is the best bargain? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices in 1930, as shown in this ad for Donahoe’s food store, 421 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, in the July 18, 1930 issue of the Pittsburgh Press.

The prices look like bargains, but there’s been a lot of inflation since 1930. According to this inflation calculator, one dollar in 1930 was the equivalent of $16.12 in 2021 dollars. So you could get a pound of butter for 40 cents, but that works out to over six dollars. And a dozen eggs were 31 cents, but that’s almost five dollars today. But if you bought them both at the same time, you would only pay 69 cents, instead of the full 71 cents.

A whole chicken cost $1.19, which works out to $19 in today’s money. At least they were so tender that the meat literally fell from the bones when done.

For a treat, ice cream cost 49 cents a quart, or about $8 today. But most people didn’t have a refrigerator at home, much less one with a freezer compartment. That wasn’t a problem, since it came packed in dry ice which would keep it for up to six hours.

Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices in 1990, from the July 13, 1990, edition of the Pittsburgh Press.  You can click on the image to view a larger version.

According to this online inflation calculator, the dollar was worth just over two times as much then. One dollar in 1990 is the equivalent of $2.06 in 2021 dollars.

Let’s see how some of these prices compare. We’ve taken other looks at historical prices, but since these are “only” 30 years old, we can make apples-to-apples comparisons, since many of the same brand names are still around.

Here are some examples. We show the 1990 price, and the 2021 price at a local supermarket. If you want to take a look at the modern product, the links below are to Amazon.

In fairness, the 1990 prices were sale prices.  And some items, like the watermelon, might have been in season that day.  And you could probably shop around and find lower 2021 prices.  But the official inflation rate would see all of the old prices multiplied by 2.06.  So a few prices went down.  And in most of our earlier price comparisons, the prices went down.  But I would say that in the last 31 years, the real  inflation rate has been more than the “official” rate.

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For a snapshot of what groceries cost in 1969, this ad for Foodland appeared in the July 8, 1969 issue of the Pittsburgh Press.  If the prices look like a bargain, keep in mind that there has been a lot of inflation in more than half a century, and according to this inflation calculator, each dollar then was the equivalent of $7.34 in 2021 dollars. Or to put it another way, the federal minimum wage was $1.60, meaning that one hour’s work would earn a pound of bologna and six cans of vegetables.

A pound of roast beef was 49 cents, but adjusted for inflation, that’s $3.59, which still sounds like a bargain. Cans of tuna, on the other hand, were 25 cents, the equivalent of $1.84 in today’s money, which sounds rather pricey.

To view a full-size copy of the ad, click on it, and from most browsers, click again to enlarge.

Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices a hundred years ago today, courtesy of the April 29, 1921, issue of the Pittsburgh Press.

While these prices look like a bargain, there’s been a lot of inflation in the last hundred years. According to this inflation calculator, each 1921 dollar is the equivalent of $14.80 in today’s money. So the can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup for a dime sounds like a bargain, but that’s the same as $1.48 today. A pound of butter is only 50 cents, but that’s the same as $7.40 today.

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Here’s a snapshot of grocery prices fifty years ago in 1971, from this ad for Shop ‘n Save Supermarkets in the April 25, 1971, issue of the Pittsburgh Press.  From most browsers, you can click twice on the image above for a larger image.

While these prices might look like bargains, there has been a lot of inflation in a half century. According to this inflation calculator, the 1971 dollar is equivalent to $6.54 in 2021 dollars. So the eggs at 39 cents a dozen are the equivalent of $2.55 in today’s money.

For a snapshot of the cost of living 75 years ago, this ad appeared in the March 15, 1946, issue of the Pittsburgh Press, for McCanns Grocery Store. When comparing pre-1964 prices, one easy rule of thumb is to remember that one dollar equaled one silver dollar, four silver quarters, or ten silver dimes, each equal to about one once of silver. Today, that same ounce of silver is worth about $26, so in today’s money, the 85 cents for three pounds of coffee works out to about $22, or over $7 a pound. The complete sirloin steak dinner sounds like a bargain at $1.35, but that would be the equivalent of about $35 in today’s money.

The eggs sound like a bargain at 49 cents a dozen, but in today’s money, that works out to over a dollar for each individual egg. Of course, the eggs were candled, meaning that you didn’t need to worry about an unpleasant surprise when you cracked it open.