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behind the times

@Marcyaz (35316)

United States

May 13, 2016 11:14am CST

In 1940 this was the cost of Things Sugar - 59 cents for 10 pounds Milk - 51 cents per gallon Ground Coffee - 42 cents per pound Bacon - 40 cents per pound Eggs - 19 cents per dozen Ground Beef - 15 cents per pound Bread - 8 cents per loaf New House - $3,925 Average Income - $1,725 per year New Car - $850 Average Rent - $30 per month Tuition to Harvard University - $420 per year Movie Ticket - 30 cents each Gasoline - 11 cents per gallon Postage Stamp - 3 cents each

23 people like this

24 responses

@rebelann (117199)

• El Paso, Texas

13 May 16

Lets see, that's $143.75 a month .... mostly people got paid by the month back then, right? OR $33.17 a week, seems to me that things haven't become more expensive just that our minimum wages have increased so much that the average income today is at least $30,000 a year and we're actually no better off.

4 people like this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@rebelann It seems that things were easier then and not as expensive as todays prices.

1 person likes this

@rebelann (117199)

• El Paso, Texas

14 May 16

If you were only making $143 a month then I'd have to ask where you got the idea they had it easier @Marcyaz

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

14 May 16

@rebelann The cost of goods was not that expensive.

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ElusiveButterfly

@ElusiveButterfly (45941)

• United States

13 May 16

People in that time did with a lot less too. Meals were cooked from scratch using simple ingredients.

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ElusiveButterfly

@ElusiveButterfly (45941)

• United States

13 May 16

@Marcyaz I have to admit that I buy boxed scalloped potatoes. LOL. I make them from scratch for my clients, and I don't use a recipe when I do. Why I don't make them from scratch at home has me scratching my head.

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@Elusivebuttefly Oh yes my mother never did make anything that was not from scratch. Not like today at all.

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@kevin1877uk (36987)

•

16 May 16

It always interests me looking back, wonderful to know those prices of things.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

16 May 16

@kevin1877uk I also like to find out what prices were back in the day just to compare.

1 person likes this

@kevin1877uk (36987)

•

16 May 16

@Marcyaz It's amazing isn't it.

@TiarasOceanView (70020)

• United States

16 May 16

I sure wish it was 1940 now with the prices.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

16 May 16

@TiarasOceanView Except for inflation we might now have such high prices right now.

@marlina (154103)

• Canada

16 May 16

Yes, but the salary was not what it is today either.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

16 May 16

@marlina No the salaries and everything else has gone way up but it is interesting to see the differences in prices of things.

@Jessicalynnt (50523)

• Centralia, Missouri

14 May 16

I want those prices. I'd have my house and truck paid off in a year (but I want to make the same I do now WITH those prices for goods lol)

2 people like this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

14 May 16

Never gonna happen.

1 person likes this

@Jessicalynnt (50523)

• Centralia, Missouri

15 May 16

@Marcyaz Oh I know, but it was a lovely day dream

@shaggin (74988)

• United States

13 May 16

It was so much harder to earn money back then I think it is understandable why prices were so low. Even that low it was still hard for a lot of people to survive.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@shaggin I think it was easier back then as my father worked for a while in the aircraft factory and my parents were able to buy another larger house during that period.

@marguicha (230334)

• Chile

13 May 16

People did not earn the same amount either. When I went to the US in 1957, our parents gave us 50 cents on Saturdays to go to Woolworth´s and buy a big banana split and a huge coke. There was money left for me to buy some tropical fish.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@marguicha In 1957 the wages had increased, in fact everything had gone up.

@much2say (57760)

• Los Angeles, California

15 May 16

Isn't it crazy to see the prices of things back then? My biggest cringe is seeing the price of houses back then . . . now we have to add a couple of zeros to that - but sadly the income is not proportionate to "now".

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

15 May 16

@much2say Yeah the price of houses is not like today way out of our price range and the automobile prices wish those would be more in line today with wages.

1 person likes this

@sishy7 (27166)

• Australia

13 May 16

I like how house was so affordable back then as per your figures 3 years of average income would pay off a house - how good is that, huh?

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@sishy7 Yeah and house were so cheap then and you could pay it off fast or slow depending.

1 person likes this

@Inlemay (17712)

• South Africa

13 May 16

Salary was probably $150pm - I was not born yet but I remember when I earned only R350 which was the same as the dollar in 1978 - Rand was trading at 87 cents to the dollar. I could buy so much and even save, it seems our worth has gotten less but the worth of the world has gotten more

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@Inlemay Yep the salary does sound about right for back then. We are not receiving the same quality as back then either.

1 person likes this

@Marilynda1225 (91013)

• United States

13 May 16

Our cost of living certainly has increased since 1940..it would be nice to have some of those prices back again

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@Marilynda Our prices certainly have increased a lot.

@DianneN (254949)

• United States

13 May 16

That was before my time, but I remover the cost of gas when it was 25 cents a gallon, and the same for a movie. Then again, our pay has somewhat gone up quite a bit, too.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

13 May 16

@DianneN I also remember when gas was cheap at 39 cents a gallon and I could go to work and back for 2 weeks on that fill up. Yes our pay has gone up a lot since then.

1 person likes this

Valerie J. Routhieaux

@just4him (323168)

• Green Bay, Wisconsin

13 May 16

My grandmother told me they built their home for $4500. My parents sold it for $80,000. The cost of living was a lot less back then. When you consider the prices today that seems like so little, but when you put it in perspective, I wonder if there is much difference between yesterday and today. The cost of living is higher and so is everything else.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

14 May 16

I guess it all depends on how you look at it.

1 person likes this

@GardenGerty (169406)

• United States

13 May 16

I remember a few prices from the fifties, like gas at 25 cents per gallon.

1 person likes this

@celticeagle (189792)

• Boise, Idaho

13 May 16

Things sure have changed haven't they?

1 person likes this

@Tampa_girl7 (54714)

• United States

13 May 16

Prices have changed a lot.

1 person likes this

@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18025)

• Torrington, Connecticut

15 Jul 16

Now thats a blast from the past jejej Then again back in 1940 the economy was way more different than how it is today!

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

15 Jul 16

@BACONSTRIPSXXX It is always interesting to see what things cost back in the early days. Yes the economy sure was different than today.

1 person likes this

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

18 Jul 16

@BACONSTRIPSXXX To bad we don't pay that for a meal nowdays.

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@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18025)

• Torrington, Connecticut

18 Jul 16

@Marcyaz yeah it really is, theirs a restaurant nearby that has a menu from the 1960's on display where you could buy breakfast with 50 cents lol

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****DANIELLE****

@VivaLaDani13 (60812)

• Perth, Australia

14 Jul 16

@Marcyaz Nowadays everything is like a thousand dollars.....lol ok slight exaggeration.

@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

15 Jul 16

@VivaLaDani13 How true it seems everything is so expensive lol slight exaggeration I would say so but I get the idea. lol

1 person likes this

Timothy Roberts

@theBlock (2657)

• United States

13 May 16

@Marcyaz Wow! That was definitely another time

1 person likes this