Category Archives: Historical Prices

Canned Bacon: 1919 and 2019

1919Sept25MilJourFullAd1919Sept25MilJourWith World War 1 soldiers on their way home or already there, the U.S. Army had some surplus commodities to get rid of a hundred years ago, and that included bacon. This ad appeared in the Milwaukee Journal a hundred years ago today, September 25, 1919, for the Boston Store in Milwaukee.

The store offered mostly dry goods, ranging from from toilet paper (6 rolls for 19 cents) up to a player piano ($395).  They also had a limited selection of food items, apparent “loss leaders” to get traffic into the store, shown at left.  And, of course, what stands out is the twelve pound can of army bacon for $3.66.  That, of course, is before a century of inflation, but a good way to put old prices in context is to remember that the money was made out of silver, so that the $3.66 really meant about 3.66 ounces of silver.  Today, that would be about $60.

That’s still a reasonable price, however.  The current WalMart price for 12 pounds of bacon is about $53.  That bacon, of course, isn’t really suitable for long-term storage, whereas the 1919 product was canned.  Interestingly enough, though, canned bacon is still readily available, and can be purchased at Amazon.  As you can see below, it’s rather expensive, especially considering that this price is for a nine ounce can:

On the other hand, for your emergency food storage needs, it might fill a niche.  According to the reviews, the product is excellent, and the 9 ounce can contains about 50 slices of bacon.  So having a can or two in the pantry might not be out of the question.

Since the modern product has 50 slices in the 9 ounce can, this means that the 12 pound can from 1919 contained several hundred slices.  So it probably was worth racing down to the store to get a couple cans.

If you’re looking for more ideas for protein for your home food storage, the most economical is probably dry beans or perhaps peanut butter.  If you crave real meat, one of the cheapest is probably tuna.  Other good options are potted meat, canned chicken, or, of course, the venerable Spam.  But if you want to get a can or two of canned bacon, I can’t blame you.

For more information about emergency food storage, see my food storage page.



1944 Grocery Prices

1944Jun29MilJourHere’s another snapshot of wartime grocery prices 75 years ago today, June 29, 1944, as shown in this IGA ad in the Milwaukee Journal. In most browsers, you can click on the image, and then click again to enlarge.

If you’re a comparison shopping time traveler, you might be interested in the following links:



1944 Grocery Prices

1944April27MilJourHere’s a snapshot of grocery prices during World War II. This ad for National Tea Food Stores  appeared in the Milwaukee Journal 75 years ago today, April 27, 1944.

Many items were rationed.  For example, the beef and pork indicate how many points were needed, meaning that the shopper would need to redeem a ration coupon.  Other items, such as chicken and fish, are advertised as “no points,” meaning that they were not rationed.



1958 Grocery Prices

1958Aug21MilJournalHere’s a snapshot of grocery prices 60 years ago today, as shown in this ad from the August 21, 1958, issue of the Milwaukee Journal.  You can click on the image above for a full-size image.

The prices look cheap, but keep in mind that there’s been a lot of inflation in the last sixty years, and the money is no longer backed by silver.  One way to compare pre-1964 prices is to remember that one dollar could be in the form of one silver dollar, four silver quarter, or ten silver dimes, all of which equaled approximately one ounce of silver.  The price of silver today is approximately $15 per ounce, meaning that to compare, you should multiply the prices by 15 to get the approximate price in today’s money.

Another way to compare prices is to look at the minimum wage. In 1958, the federal minimum wage was $1 per hour, but now it is $7.25 per hour. To use this metric to compare prices, you would multiply the prices shown here by $7.25.

The following chart shows the 1958 prices of various items, and the adjusted prices using each metric. Finally, it shows the price of a comparable product at Walmart.

Product

1958 Price

Adusted for Silver Value

Adjusted For Minimum Wage

2018 Walmart Price

T-Bone Steak, per pound

$0.99

14.85

7.18

  9.48

Rump Roast, per pound

$0.89

13.35

6.45

  4.97

Corned Beef, 12 oz. can

$0.41

6.15

2.97

  3.12

Spam, 12 oz. can 0

$0.47

7.05

3.41

  2.64

Beef stew, 24 oz. can 

$0.45

6.75

3.26

  2.18

Butter, 1 lb.

$0.79

11.85

5.73

  3.24

Ice cream, 1/2 gal. 

$0.89

13.35

6.45

  2.97

Coffee, 1 lb.

$0.69

10.35

5.00

  3.65

Chicken noodle soup

2/$0.25

1.88

1.08

  1,48

Pork & Beans, 16 oz.

2/$0.25

1.88

1.08

  1.48

Tomato soup

$0.11

1.65

0.91

  1.58

Crackers, 1 lb.

$0.33

4.96

2.39

  1.78

By clicking the Walmart prices above, you can view the product and its current price, which might have changed from the price shown.  Links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking the link, this website receives a small commission.

For a look at other prices through history:  1939 prices, 1956 prices.



1956 Prices

1956 grocery prices.

Here’s a snapshot of consumer grocery prices sixty years ago. This ad for Kroger’s appeared in the Pittsburgh Press, August 23, 1956.

It’s not a perfect method of comparing prices (because silver is also a commodity whose price varies), but the easiest way to compare pre-1964 prices is to remember that a dollar equaled one silver dollar, four silver quarters, or ten silver dimes, each of which weighed one ounce.  So if you think of the prices in terms of ounces of silver, you’ll get an idea of what prices were really like then.  The price of silver today is about $18, so by multiplying these prices by 18, you’ll get an idea of what items cost then.

A pound of ground beef cost 39 cents, but by this comparison, that would equal about $7 a pound.  A pint of mayonnaise was 47 cents, the equivalent of $8.46 in today’s money.  Tuna was two cans for 63 cents, which works out to $5.67 per can in today’s money.

 

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A Look at 1939 Prices

EconomyBoys1939Here’s a sampling of what your money would buy 75 years ago today, on October 12, 1939. This ad for a store named “Economy Boys” appeared in the Milwaukee Journal.

Two radios for the home were shown. The least expensive was a four-tube Tiny Teletone for $5.44. An Admiral five-tube superhet “with television connection” was available for $10.95. Both of these radios had bakelite cases. For the car, a Troubado auto radio was available for $17.45. It had six pushbutton presets, and could also be manually tuned. A better image of this car radio can be found at RadioMuseum.org.

Radios were but a small part of what Economy Boys had for sale. Tires for your car started at $4.33, batteries started at $2.49, and spark plugs were 22 cents. Two gallons of motor oil were 88 cents. A bicycle cost $17.44. GE light bulbs were a dime. If you were willing to settle for “Elram” bulbs, they could be had for 7-1/2 cents each.

Economy Boys also seemed to have everything for the hunter. Rifles started at $4.69, and shotguns started at $6.66. Shotgun shells were 67 cents for a box of 25, and .22 cartridges were 16-2/3 cents for a box of 50.