As a pre-baby boomer, I often find myself reflecting back to the 1950’s and comparing that era with today, and am amazed as to how far we have come in the field of technology ,and how much more items cost. Today, the minimum wage is almost an hourly $7.00; while from 1950-1959 the minimum wage per hour was a mere $.75.
I can recall going to the neighborhood “mom and pop” grocery store. In fact, we had two small stores within walking distance, Stahl’s and Roth’s. One of my chores was to go to either store when the family ran out of bread.
After purchasing, a loaf of Sunbeam bread for approximately $.17- $.18, I would stand at the candy counter with an allotted nickel trying to decide as to what type of candy that I wanted. Did I want a candy bar for $.03, or did I want a nickel’s worth of penny jar candy, such as gum drops, lolly-pops, licorice sticks, or a mixture of penny candy. Today, very few “mom and pop’ stores remain.
One item that I was never sent to purchase, was milk. Milk and dairy products were delivered to the door. At that time, milk did not come in gallons, waxed cartons, or plastic containers. Milk came in glass quart bottles, and was either cream top milk which sold for $.17 a quart, or homogenized milk at $.18 a quart. I loved the cream topped milk the best. During winter, if the cream topped milk was left on the porch too long, the cream would freeze and push the top off the bottle; I enjoyed eating the cream from the top. Other products which were delivered to the door was real creamy butter for $.28 a pound, and large curd cottage cheese at $.24 a pound. At this time, margarine did not exist. By 1958, waxed cartons replaced the glass bottle, and milk came in two sizes, the quart and the half-gallon.
In the 50’s meat had a better flavor, with cattle at that time being grain and grass fed; soy bean based cattle feed was unheard of. Hamburger sold at 3 pounds for $.89, and sirloin steak was $.77 lb. One of the favorites of the family was Lake Erie Perch: however, the family thought that $.49 lb, was way too much for perch, so we caught our own. (Today, try buying Lake Erie Perch at $.49 a lb.)
As far as technology, I can remember the first black and white television that we owned. The set was a 1952 table top mahogany leatherette Motorola. The set its self, was more box-like and approximately 24x24x24 inches. The black and white screen was centered and 15 inches wide. The cost of the television was about $150.00 at that time. The only colored television available at that time was manufactured by the CBS Columbia Co. and sold for $499.95 in 1951. Not many were sold, and later in 1951, the Department of Defense asked that the manufacturing of these sets be stopped, because the materials used were vital for the conflict in Korea. In December 1953, the Department of Defense reversed its decision on the CBS color set and allowed further production. In December of 1953, Admiral produced its colored television for $1175.00, and was followed by Westinghouse in April of 1954, with a 15 inch screen color television for a mere $1295. Because of the cost of the television, very few sold. In fact according to the New York Times in 1954, during one month of advertising in 60 New York stores, only one set sold. Now we have digital and HDT televisions.
The first Polaroid camera was introduced in 1948 and used sepia film (brown tones)’ the first black and white Polaroid film was sold in 1950, followed by color in 1963. During 2008, Polaroid announced that it will no longer manufacture Polaroid film for their cameras; instead they are expanding their technology to other sources.
Back in the 50’s the cost of homes was very reasonable. People could purchase a newly built home starting at $8,450.00 and the average cost of pre owned homes in Ohio was about $6,000-$7,000. Some of these homes still exist today, and are going for $75,000 or more.
New cars, such as the Chevrolet Delray Coupe could be purchased for $1884.00 in 1950 and gasoline to run the car ranged from $.176-$.20 a gallon. Try buying a new car today for that price, or finding gasoline that reasonable.
What is so amazing about the 1950 era according to thepeoplehistory.com is that if “$100 were converted from 1950 to 2005, it would equivalent to $835.41.”
(I have included several websites that give some of the prices that we paid in the 50’s. I found the information very interestiong. Please check it out.)
