I remember when a coke was only 5¢

by Kurt
124 replies
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What are some of the prices you can remember from your youth?

I remember:

5¢ bottles of 12 oz BOTTLE of coke. There's nothing that beats an ice cold soda in a BOTTLE on a hot day.

5¢ for a BIG hershey bar

I can remember the gas wars in the SW where gas stations would drop the cost of gas so low they'd lose money to put the guy across the street out of business. They'd even wash your windshield, check the oil and radiator and fill your tires...AND give you a free glass with every fill up. Gas was 23¢ a gallon.

Also when I was very young, there was a potato chip factory a few blocks away. They'd sell a paper bag (the size Ken uses for his pints of MD 20/20) full of the scrap potato chips that were broken and too small to package. They were only 5¢ and tasted soooooo good. Being so fresh really made a huge difference.

I think the cheapest I remember a hamburger at McD's was 19¢?
  • Profile picture of the author Lawrh
    My first motorcycle was a 1965 Honda C200 90cc, which I bought for a hundred bucks in 1971. I would put 25 cents worth of gas in it once a week. I rode that thing everywhere and never ran out of gas.

    1965 C200 Touring 90 by Honda - Bike Museum at Bob Logue Motorsports

    Mine was red.
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  • Profile picture of the author GTCRESSY
    Heck, I remember when gasoline was 20 cents a gallon.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
    Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

    I think the cheapest I remember a hamburger at McD's was 19¢?
    I worked at McDonalds in 1969 as a senior in HS and was putting in 60 hours a week. I was a closer if you know what that job was. We stayed after closing time until the place was spotless. Once I got a raise up to $1.69 an hour I was making almost as much as the assistant manager who only needed to work 40 hours for his pay.

    They would let us eat anything but the apple pies unless the pies were somehow broken.

    You could really burn your thumb pushing it into those things when the manager wasn't looking and we had a kid who made sure there were enough broken ones to go around.

    As I recall the Big Macs were around 32 cents when they first came out.

    In 1971 a new Ford Pinto sold for $1995 and there were a ton of parts to hot rod those things, and for awhile I really wanted one. But my '65 Olds had a 425 cu.in. motor and I could turn 14.2 seconds in the quarter mile @ 93 mph and that was good enough to keep that 4200 pound beast.

    ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    5 cents for a 5 ball pinball game.
    5 cent gum and 5 cent candy bars
    5 cents for a 10 oz Dr Pepper
    10 cent comic books
    a meal of a burger,fries and a drink cost less than 50 cents at McDonalds
    This was an unusual circumstance but my grandfather and my uncle ran compepting gas stations on the highway out of the city.On one side was my grandfather with a Gulf station and on the other side was my uncle with a Texaco station.
    The only stations within miles and they would get into gas price wars with each other. One would sell it for 20 cents a gallon and the other would make it 19 cents. Then 18 and 17 cents.
    The lowest I remember it going was 13 cents a gallon.
    Nowadays it costs 13 cents to get gas up to the nozzle.
    A piece of cheese put on your burger was 5 cents.I saw a place charging 65 cents to add a piece of cheese the other day.
    For a dollar you could go to the saturday matinee movie and get in the movie, and get popcorn and a drink.
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    • Profile picture of the author ThomM
      I don't remember many prices but I remember this.
      In 1970 I was married with a new baby.
      My wife stayed home and I worked.
      I took home $96 a week.
      That paid all the bills, bought groceries, put a weeks worth of gas in my 69 bug, and gave us each $5 to go out and party on the weekends with.
      Draft beer was 25 cents and a boilermaker was 75 cents.
      My mortgage then was $25 a month on a 30 year mortgage for a two bedroom house I bought for $13,500.
      I bought a 1953 Indian Chief which today would be considered a bobber for $650.
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

    (the size Ken uses for his pints of MD 20/20)
    Well... I remember going to the movies in the early 60s and it cost a quarter.
    My dad was in the Air Force, and we were at Dover AFB. I loved walking to
    the base theater, getting popcorn and a drink and watching a movie.

    When I was in elementary school, we used to walk to this candy store after
    school. We could blow 25 cents and get a small bag of candy.

    And in high school... I would over-hear kids talking in the cafeteria about
    being able to get '4 finger bags' for only 20 bucks. Whatever a 4 finger bag
    was. I dunno...


    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    Man I thought I was old. Cheapest i can remember a Coke costing was a quarter. Big Macs costing 32 cents?? Cheapest I remember gas costing was 75 cents a gallon.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Ken, you sound deprived.
    Just for future reference, take a baggie and hold it with your thumb in front and the index and middle finger behind,
    Now take a can of oregano and pour it into the baggie till it covers the two fingers in the back.
    Now take the two fingers and hold them at the top of where the oregano is and take that other substance and pour it in until the fingers are covered again.Shake vigorously.
    If you have done it properly you will have what a lot of people sold for a four finger baggy for 20 bucks back then.
    HTH
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    • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      Ken, you sound deprived.
      Just for future reference, take a baggie and hold it with your thumb in front and the index and middle finger behind,
      Now take a can of oregano and pour it into the baggie till it covers the two fingers in the back.
      Now take the two fingers and hold them at the top of where the oregano is and take that other substance and pour it in until the fingers are covered again.Shake vigorously.
      If you have done it properly you will have what a lot of people sold for a four finger baggy for 20 bucks back then.
      HTH
      Well... Kim. Cough. (I was never deprived in the sense you're talking about.)

      Never...

      Ken
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      • Profile picture of the author ThomM
        Well... I remember going to the movies in the early 60s and it cost a quarter.
        That reminded me of when I was a kid in the early 60's.
        On Saturday I would get $2.00 to go to the movies.
        We would stop at Hot Dog Charlies and have a dog eating contest.
        Hot dogs where 5 cents and so was a soda.
        From there we would hit the movies, get the candy, soda, and pop corn and at the end of the day have a little change left.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kurt
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      Ken, you sound deprived.
      Just for future reference, take a baggie and hold it with your thumb in front and the index and middle finger behind,
      Now take a can of oregano and pour it into the baggie till it covers the two fingers in the back.
      Now take the two fingers and hold them at the top of where the oregano is and take that other substance and pour it in until the fingers are covered again.Shake vigorously.
      If you have done it properly you will have what a lot of people sold for a four finger baggy for 20 bucks back then.
      HTH
      And in high school... I would over-hear kids talking in the cafeteria about
      being able to get '4 finger bags' for only 20 bucks. Whatever a 4 finger bag
      was. I dunno...
      Which reminds me...I paid $10 for my first OZs of the "other substance", and complained when it went up to $12.50.
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      • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
        Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

        Which reminds me...I paid $10 for my first OZs of the "other substance", and complained when it went up to $12.50.
        I was ripped off in my very first transaction. I bought it from
        one of the toughest guys in school. After I realized what happened,
        I kept bugging him about it. He must have liked me because he
        sent word, through a mutual friend, that I should stop bugging
        him about it or there would be consequences.

        First marketing lesson learned the hard way. Oh, it was heavily
        cut with oregano.


        Ken
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      • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
        Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

        Which reminds me...I paid $10 for my first OZs of the "other substance", and complained when it went up to $12.50.
        I hear tell that same amount of Oregano would go $400 now. Inflation at it's finest.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kurt
          Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

          I hear tell that same amount of Oregano would go $400 now. Inflation at it's finest.
          It's legal here with a Rx. There are more legal dispensaries in Denver than Starbucks.

          About $300-$350 for top of the line. You can find schwag for $60 an oz. That's what a "friend" told me anyway.

          Check out Craig's list for Denver for a search for MMJ (medical marijuana):
          denver all for sale / wanted classifieds "mmj" - craigslist

          Times are a changin'...
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            I don't know where you all grew up at, but back when I was a kid, every thing was pretty much free, I mean it only took a little pout and one tear to drop from one of my lil brown eyes and Daddy broke down!

            Whatever I wanted, it was mine and free to me anyway!:p

            Terra
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            • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
              Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

              I don't know where you all grew up at, but back when I was a kid, every thing was pretty much free, I mean it only took a little pout and one tear to drop from one of my lil brown eyes ...

              Terra
              I tried that once. Just once.

              They all laughed and one guy pulled a knife.

              So I said, 'All right. All right. How much?'


              Ken
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              • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

                I tried that once. Just once.

                They all laughed and one guy pulled a knife.

                So I said, 'All right. All right. How much?'


                Ken
                LOL!

                I get you completely!

                And rumor has it that you're not a "wiseguy"!:p

                Terra
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                • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
                  Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                  LOL!

                  And rumor has it that you're not a "wiseguy"!:p

                  Terra
                  You know what they say about people who believe and spread
                  rumors...


                  Ken
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                  • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                    Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

                    You know what they say about people who believe and spread
                    rumors...


                    Ken
                    Ummm, not really.

                    Does it have to do with the word assume? Maybe?

                    Terra
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                    • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
                      Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                      Ummm, not really.

                      Does it have to do with the word assume? Maybe?

                      Terra
                      Naw...

                      Whatever the rumors are, they're probably true. lol


                      Ken
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                      • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                        Originally Posted by KenThompson View Post

                        Naw...

                        Whatever the rumors are, they're probably true. lol


                        Ken
                        Ken,

                        You are too funny! I haven't heard any rumors! And psst, I don't sleep wit da fishes!

                        At least I don't think I do. LOL!

                        Terra
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                        • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
                          My first domain names cost me $75 each. I still have one of theose domains up and running.

                          The first apartment I ever looked at when I got married was asking $105 a month rent and I turned to my bride and wispered under my breath "How are we going to afford $105 a month?" I was 18 and scared...

                          ~Bill
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            • Profile picture of the author jlxsolutions
              Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

              I don't know where you all grew up at, but back when I was a kid, every thing was pretty much free, I mean it only took a little pout and one tear to drop from one of my lil brown eyes and Daddy broke down!

              Whatever I wanted, it was mine and free to me anyway!:p

              Terra
              Sorry but that reminded me of this
              (ok orginial version might be better but i,m a WoW palyer lol)

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              • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                Originally Posted by jlxsolutions View Post

                Sorry but that reminded me of this
                (ok orginial version might be better but i,m a WoW palyer lol)

                YouTube - World of warcraft: Hot Dumb Blondes
                I would venture to say that not only are you a big WOW player, but that you are addicted to it and look for any reason to display portions of it!

                Let me explain:
                #1 - I'm not a blond
                #2 - I'm not dumb, I'm college educated
                #3 - I was just a child, for crying out loud
                #4 - I'm not a cartoon
                #5 - Sex appeal was not used with my Dad, ewww, gross!

                There are many more differences as well, but you get the picture!

                I can understand your love for WOW though because I feel the same way about the color pink!

                Terra
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          • Profile picture of the author KimW
            Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

            It's legal here with a Rx. There are more legal dispensaries in Denver than Starbucks.

            About $300-$350 for top of the line. You can find schwag for $60 an oz. That's what a "friend" told me anyway.

            Check out Craig's list for Denver for a search for MMJ (medical marijuana):
            denver all for sale / wanted classifieds "mmj" - craigslist

            Times are a changin'...
            Boy,they sure are a-changing.
            I could not believe those ads. I really am out of it.
            Didn't people think if it became legal it would be cheaper?
            I couldn't believe some of those prices.
            Glad I gave it up years ago.
            (Though I bet if I lived there I could get a medical script).
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      • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
        Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

        Which reminds me...I paid $10 for my first OZs of the "other substance", and complained when it went up to $12.50.
        lol...Kurt, I can't help myself but this video came to mind just now...I wonder why?
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeAmbrosio
    Hmmm...

    Well, at my favorite pizzeria I could get 2 slices with pepperoni and a large fountain drink for $1.05. The same order today costs me about 8 bucks (which is more than I used to pay for an entire pepperoni pie back then).

    When I started smoking in 1977, Marlboro Reds were about $0.42 pack. When I quit 11 years ago they were $3.35 (almost $3 increase in 22 years). Now, in the area of New York State I live in, they are an average of $9.50 (more than $6 increase in 11 years).

    I don't remember the gas prices, but I do remember the gas lines.

    You could get 5 pieces of Bazooka bubble gum for a penny.

    And on the "other" ... I could get a dime (10 rolled and ready) for 10 bucks. Someone told me recently that now, a "dime" is like 20 bucks and you get one or two. Glad I stopped that stuff...
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  • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
    This thread is making me feel incredibly young. Thanks guys!
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    I don't know MissTerra, I tried crying but your daddy still didn't buy me anything.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      I don't know MissTerra, I tried crying but your daddy still didn't buy me anything.
      Only because you weren't as cute as me!:p

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        Only because you weren't as cute as me!:p

        Terra
        Terra,

        Nobody's as cute as you.





        Except maybe those little froggie guys...

        ~Bill
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        • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
          Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

          Terra,

          Nobody's as cute as you.





          Except maybe those little froggie guys...

          ~Bill
          Ok KJ,

          Here's my response exactly:

          Awwww, KJ, you're so....




          Uggh! I can't believe he just said that! Followed by a big Smile and lots of giggles!

          Terra
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    • Profile picture of the author JDArchitecture
      Every item on Taco Bell menu was 19¢.

      Thrifty Drug single scoop ice cream cone was a nickle, double scoop was a dime.

      But, my first calculator (complete with sqrt key... whoopee!) was $110 at Kmart!!!
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        When I was growing up the best things in life were always free - candy, cigarettes, hot dogs, beer, girlie magazines, and even coke. You just had to be fast; get in and get out with as much as you can grab in one pass.
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        • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
          Originally Posted by myob View Post

          When I was growing up the best things in life were always free - candy, cigarettes, hot dogs, beer, girlie magazines, and even coke. You just had to be fast; get in and get out with as much as you can grab in one pass.
          Sorta like the stock market, eh Paul?
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        • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
          I remember a 10 pack of baseball cards for 5 cents.

          I remember Bazooka Joe bubble gum for a penny a piece.

          I remember candy bars for 5 cents.

          I remember a bag of Skittles for 10 cents.

          I remember 10 cent comic books.

          I remember most board games were about $5.

          I remember GI Joes were about $5 and the accessory packs where about
          $2.

          I remember a game of bowling was 50 cents.

          I remember a hot dog at the snack bar of the bowling alley was about $1.
          It was a foot long hot dog with anything you wanted on it.

          I remember Burger King small burgers were about 30 cents. A burger, fries
          and a drink was about 75 or 80 cents.

          I remember a dinner out for 2 (I'm talking a full course meal) was $15
          with the tip.

          I remember a movie was $2.50

          I remember when you could fill up one of those gas guzzlers (22 gallon
          tank) for about $7.

          A brand new car was about $3,000.

          I remember 45 RPM records were about 79 cents

          I remember 33 LP records were about $3.99

          I remember when Playboy was $1

          I remember when apartment rent was $300 a month for 4 1/2 rooms

          I remember when Hot Wheels were 50 cents.

          I remember when White Castles were 10 cents a burger.

          And...on the reverse end of the scale.

          I remember when music synthesizers were $5,000 and now you can get
          something that's 100 times more powerful for about a grand.

          Yeah, some stuff is actually cheaper than the good old days.
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  • Profile picture of the author scubasteve-cr
    Yah, yah yah. You guys talk about how stuff was cheaper back then, but what were average wages back then?
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      Originally Posted by scubasteve-cr View Post

      Yah, yah yah. You guys talk about how stuff was cheaper back then, but what were average wages back then?
      Read my post above...I got a raise to $1.69 an hour...


      Howard Johnson's used to have "All the fish you could eat" Wednesdays for $1.19.
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      • Profile picture of the author KimW
        Originally Posted by scubasteve-cr View Post

        Yah, yah yah. You guys talk about how stuff was cheaper back then, but what were average wages back then?
        Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

        Read my post above...I got a raise to $1.69 an hour...


        Howard Johnson's used to have "All the fish you could eat" Wednesdays for $1.19.

        I started working for this garbage disposal company in the early to mid 70s. They paid me $2.75 an hour to scrape and paint dumpsters.
        Dirtiest and nastiest job I ever had, but when I left the company 5 years later to start my own business I was the office manager and making more than I ever thought I would make.
        (Course I was still very young then.)
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        • Profile picture of the author Kurt
          Originally Posted by KimW View Post

          I started working for this garbage disposal company in the early to mid 70s. They paid me $2.75 an hour to scrape and paint dumpsters.
          Dirtiest and nastiest job I ever had, but when I left the company 5 years later to start my own business I was the office manager and making more than I ever thought I would make.
          (Course I was still very young then.)
          One of the lessons I've learned in life is that the harder you work at a job, the less you get paid.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kurt
      Originally Posted by scubasteve-cr View Post

      Yah, yah yah. You guys talk about how stuff was cheaper back then, but what were average wages back then?
      My first allowance was a nickle a week. But I could make more by mowing the lawn for a quarter or shovel the walks in winter for 50 cents, etc.

      Electronics are something that's really come down...In about 1967 a color TV was something like $600? And there were only a couple of color TV shows. A new VW was only $1900 (?).

      Long distance too...Back then it was like 75 cents a minute. When you did get/make a long distance, it was a huge event and you talked 100 miles an hour. If someone walked in and tried to talk to you, you shouted "LONG DISTANCE"! An hour phone call could cost a week's pay check.
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      • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
        Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

        Long distance too...Back then it was like 75 cents a minute. When you did get/make a long distance, it was a huge event and you talked 100 miles an hour. If someone walked in and tried to talk to you, you shouted "LONG DISTANCE"! An hour phone call could cost a week's pay check.
        Yes! I remember that!

        Long Distance took precedence over everything!

        Wow, how times have changed in that arena!

        Terra
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        • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
          Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

          Yes! I remember that! Long Distance took precedence over everything!
          When I was a kid, we had a "party line". Only the "well to do" had a private line, they were much more expensive.
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

            When I was a kid, we had a "party line". Only the "well to do" had a private line, they were much more expensive.
            Oh my! I think we must have grown up in different decades!

            Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author The Wanderer
        Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

        ...Electronics are something that's really come down...In about 1967 a color TV was something like $600? And there were only a couple of color TV shows. A new VW was only $1900 (?).

        Long distance too...Back then it was like 75 cents a minute. When you did get/make a long distance, it was a huge event and you talked 100 miles an hour. If someone walked in and tried to talk to you, you shouted "LONG DISTANCE"! An hour phone call could cost a week's pay check.
        Now this really brings back memories. Getting a television was a huge deal. We got our first one-- a small black and white one on a rolling cart-- in 1958, when I was 5. My mother wouldn't have it in the living room, so we kids fought over whose room it would go in until we moved and got a house with a rec room. Then we just fought over what to watch.

        And long distance- maybe once every few months my grandparents would call from California. And we could never talk for more than a few minutes.

        But what I really remember is what happened with computers and peripherals. When my husband went to the Rand Corporation I saw my first laser printer. It was a little bigger than a commercial copier and cost about $50,000 (more than twice my husband's salary). I dreamed of one day being so rich that I could buy one of my own.
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    • Profile picture of the author JDArchitecture
      Originally Posted by scubasteve-cr View Post

      Yah, yah yah. You guys talk about how stuff was cheaper back then, but what were average wages back then?
      With the exception of technology, wages haven't come close to keeping up with inflation.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kurt
        Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

        That's too funny.

        But, Cloris Leachman is looking better as time goes by...

        ~Bill
        Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

        I think Betty White before Cloris Leachman. But that's just me.
        Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

        You must have seen this seen photo:
        It depends...If I'm stranded on a deserted isle, I'll take Ginger and/or Mary Ann.

        However, as I get older I'm starting to appreciate Mrs. Howell's assets a lot more.

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        • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
          Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

          However, as I get older I'm starting to appreciate Mrs. Howell's assets a lot more.
          Oh yeah Mrs. Howell for sure. I hat the hots for her even when I was a teenager watching Gilligans island. But then again I had the hots for just about any woman I laid my eyes on back then.
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          • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
            Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

            Oh yeah Mrs. Howell for sure. I hat the hots for her even when I was a teenager watching Gilligans island. But then again I had the hots for just about any woman I laid my eyes on back then.
            Psst! Matt I think he was referring to her "financial" assets!

            At least I hope so!

            Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author Lawrh
    You don't have to go back all that far for lower prices. Gas was about half what it is now in 1995 before Katrina and the speculators. That's true here in Canada, anyways.
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    • Profile picture of the author KimW
      Originally Posted by Lawrh View Post

      You don't have to go back all that far for lower prices. Gas was about half what it is now in 1995 before Katrina and the speculators. That's true here in Canada, anyways.
      Thats true here too Lawrh.
      I posted earlier about the gas wars my relatives had, but for the most part gas was about 35 cents to 50 cents a gallon in my formative years.
      It was during the Arabian Gas Embargo that gas rose to the outrageous price of a bit over a dollar a gallon and we had to wait hours in line to purchase gas, and even then we could usually only buy $10 worth at a time. I lived in Virginia then (and still do) and we could only buy gas on even or or days,depending on what number your liscense plate ended in.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    I think he's talkin bout sleepin wit da fishes.....
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    Coke was 5 cents from 1886 until 1959. Five cents in 1886 is equivalent to $1 today.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

      Coke was 5 cents from 1886 until 1959. Five cents in 1886 is equivalent to $1 today.
      Dang! I am getting ripped off then having to pay a buck thirty to a buck fifty for a Pepsi-plus deposit!

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        Dang! I am getting ripped off then having to pay a buck thirty to a buck fifty for a Pepsi-plus deposit!
        Wow. 20-ounces Cokes and Pepsis are just a flat buck in the vending machines near my office.
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        • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
          Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

          Wow. 20-ounces Cokes and Pepsis are just a flat buck in the vending machines near my office.
          Gas stations, sheesh, highway robbery I tell ya!

          Seriously though, it could be good old Michigan! They're up to $2 for a 20 ouncer around here in vending machines!

          Terra
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          • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
            Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

            Seriously though, it could be good old Michigan! They're up to $2 for a 20 ouncer around here in vending machines!
            Ouch! I hate paying $1.00 a bottle. $2.00 would make me downright livid.
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            • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
              Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

              Ouch! I hate paying $1.00 a bottle. $2.00 would make me downright livid.
              You know it!

              But what makes me livid is having to pay the same $2.00 for a bottle of water in the same machine with no bottle return to boot!:rolleyes:

              Terra
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              • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
                Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

                But what makes me livid is having to pay the same $2.00 for a bottle of water in the same machine with no bottle return to boot!
                We don't have returnable bottles around here at all, so no issue there. We had them when I was a kid, I'd ride my bike along the road looking for them, picking them up and getting myself 5 cents each.
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                • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                  Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

                  We don't have returnable bottles around here at all, so no issue there. We had them when I was a kid, I'd ride my bike along the road looking for them, picking them up and getting myself 5 cents each.
                  You're fortunate! I hate taking bottles back! Right now out in the garage I have five industrial sized garbage bags full and number six is in progress.

                  At a dime a piece, I figure they're kind of like a piggy bank and if I should ever become desperate, I have a stash!

                  Terra
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    • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
      Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

      Coke was 5 cents from 1886 until 1959. Five cents in 1886 is equivalent to $1 today.
      But it was worth it. Back then cokes were real energy drinks. But I
      think they eliminated the best ingredient way before 1959. I think.


      Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    When I was a kid pork chops were 10c a pound and bread about the same for a loaf but we didn't buy it often - Mom baked most of our bread.

    Candy was a penny.

    McDonalds were 10c a hamburger.

    The soda fountain had drinks for a nickel - but we got to really splurge and got syrup added for an additional nickel.

    Then came high school. Saturday nights - cigarettes 35c a pack, a buck for a bottle of Boonesfarm and gas between 17c and 23c a gallon, depending on who was having price wars. Whoppers were less than a buck.

    We would all get together in one car and for 3 bucks we had gas, a drive in movie, food, and party materials. Sometimes if we had a few extra bucks between us we'd buy a "nickle bag" and instead of the movie we'd drive to a local "haunted house" and party hardy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Rush
      In the 1950s, my mother managed to feed a family of 6, with 3 growing boys and a daughter, for $40 a week food budget--and it was delivered by Grand Union.

      And at summer camp in the mid-1950s, I'm pretty sure candy bars were 5 cents, as I believe we each were given 10 cents a day to buy candy after lunch, before the rest hour in our tents before the afternoon activities, and we could always get 2 bars for that 10 cents.

      Also, I'd be willing to bet that the 5 cent coke was for a 7-oz bottle, not a 12 oz. one. I don't believe 12 oz bottles existed back at the time the 5 cent price was current. I could be wrong, but I sure remember in the 1960s the 7 oz bottles that you'd find in vending machines.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    How much were a pair of KEDS?
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by Kurt View Post

      How much were a pair of KEDS?
      Hmmm,

      I don't remember, I wore Buster Browns and my grandmother's best friend owned a shoe store so we got them for free!:p

      Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    That reminds me. Bread a dime a loaf. Bananas 10 cents a pound. Milk 89 cents a gallon.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    Don't know about Keds. My mom always bought me generic canvas sneakers from a store called J. M. Fields.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    I want to thank all the old timers posting here on the thread who have made me realize that being 40 isn't all that old after all. For that I am extremely grateful. Not the fact that I'm much younger than all of you but...wait a sec, it is because I'm so much younger than all of you!
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    DIdn't get my shoes for free but my uncle was a plant manager at a Rawlings factory and every summer we got Rawlings gloves, baseballs, bases, bats,etc etc for free.
    My older brother and I were popular in the summer.
    Played with the other kids you used garbage can lids and other things for bases, you played with us you used the real stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    How ironic Matt. a friend posted on facebook tonight how she wish she could hurry up and be 50 and start over again.
    I told her I wish I could be 40 again.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      How ironic Matt. a friend posted on facebook tonight how she wish she could hurry up and be 50 and start over again.
      I told her I wish I could be 40 again.
      My dad was sitting at a table (true story) with a few of his golfing friends way back when and the oldest guy, who lived to be 103 and was about 100 at the time, looked over at the waitress who was around 65 or better and said" Boy, just looking at her makes me wish I was 85 again".

      I knew that old man when I was young and always liked him. Even got to play golf with him once.

      ~Bill
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      • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
        It is interesting how when you get older your attraction changes along with your age. When I was in my 20s a woman in her forties looked old. Now, for me, a good looking woman in her forties can be soooo sexy. In fact some women in their 50s can be sexier than many 20 year olds.

        Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

        My dad was sitting at a table (true story) with a few of his golfing friends way back when and the oldest guy, who lived to be 103 and was about 100 at the time, looked over at the waitress who was around 65 or better and said" Boy, just looking at her makes me wish I was 85 again".
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        • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
          Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

          It is interesting how when you get older your attraction changes along with your age. When I was in my 20s a woman in her forties looked old. Now, for me, a good looking woman in her forties can be soooo sexy. In fact some women in their 50s can be sexier than many 20 year olds.
          Tim, I agree with the above.

          When I was in my 20s a woman in her forties looked old.
          Now that I'm 58 a woman who is 116 really looks old.

          ~Bill
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          • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
            LOL.

            So how does a woman who is 80 look? Like a cougar?

            Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

            Now that I'm 58 a woman who is 116 really looks old.

            ~Bill
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            • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
              Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

              LOL.

              So how does a woman who is 80 look? Like a cougar?
              That's too funny.

              But, Cloris Leachman is looking better as time goes by...

              ~Bill
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              • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
                Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

                That's too funny.

                But, Cloris Leachman is looking better as time goes by...

                ~Bill
                You must have seen this seen photo:

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            • Profile picture of the author HeySal
              Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

              LOL.

              So how does a woman who is 80 look? Like a cougar?
              You have dreams about N. Reagan then ask THIS question? LMAO.

              I don't remember keds - but I remember in 10th grade my jeans were costing about 12 bucks a pair and my mom went to Chicago and dropped $1000 on clothes for me to keep me from dressing like a "poor little waif". They hated jeans on women back then.

              In Paris at 18 I picked up a pair of awesome platform stellitos (how the heck do you spell that?) for 60 francs = 5 bucks.

              Then in my early 20's I had a pair of Gloria Vanderbelts that cost me $43 bucks and my hair was $60 per perm and cut.

              I'm thinking Keds were probably 4 or 5 bucks a pair, Kurt.
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              • Profile picture of the author Kurt
                Originally Posted by HeySal View Post


                I'm thinking Keds were probably 4 or 5 bucks a pair, Kurt.
                Was it keds or PF Flyers that came with the secret prize?

                After keds and PF Flyers, it was Jack Purcel's then Converse All-Stars...And Levi 501's, the best pants ever made.
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              • Profile picture of the author TimPhelan
                That was a dream, as in singular. If it becomes a recurring dream I may have to see Dr Phil.

                By the way, Mrs Howell was hot. I don't know why they never showed her in a bikini. Maybe it was because she was stereotyped as a millionaires wife.

                Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

                You have dreams about N. Reagan then ask THIS question? LMAO.
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                • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
                  Originally Posted by TimPhelan View Post

                  That was a dream, as in singular. If it becomes a recurring dream I may have to see Dr Phil.

                  By the way, Mrs Howell was hot. I don't know why they never showed her in a bikini. Maybe it was because she was stereotyped as a millionaires wife.
                  I don't know Tim, maybe it was the decade!

                  I'm not married to a millionaire but I still wear a bikini, and that wouldn't change if I was a millionaire's wife! The only difference would be that I'd have one for every day of the month!

                  Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    "Old is as old does" as Forest Gump's momma used to say. Wait that was "stupid is as stupid does." But you get my point. One of my old neighbors used to tell me that you are "only as old as the one you're feeling". Since he had a much younger wife I took him at his word.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lawrh
    I frequently feel like a twenty year old, too bad there is seldom one around. Groucho
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    I know last fall when I dropped my son off at campus one day I was amazed at how many little girls were walking around the place. When I went there a couple decades ago the campus was absolutely crawling with women. I'm not sure where the women went but I saw a few of the other parents who certainly fit the bill.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    I think Betty White before Cloris Leachman. But that's just me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
      Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

      I think Betty White before Cloris Leachman. But that's just me.
      Yea Matt, but if I had said that it may have been taken as believable. :rolleyes:

      ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author garyv
    I just bought my son a meal from Arby's. It was almost $9.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Well, I didn't much care how much things cost until about the 70s. Although I remember candy cosing like $.15, and stamps at like $.13(I checked, that is 1975). I only remember gas a bit below a dollar, in the 90+ range. OH, and gas was priced in fractions of a penny, so you might see 95.9 which meant 10 gallons of gas would cost $9.59USD.

    It IS odd because when I was a LITTLE kid, I would sometimes go to woolworths for a sunday and a coke. It was nice, and I don't EVER remember having a concern about cost.

    MissTerraK,

    What SCK said was based on where you were. The phone system as it stands for most from the 70s on came MUCH later than phones, and small towns tended to take the longest to ramp up. When I was a kid, they were STILL talking about exchanges like richmond 9, etc... And I love lucy showed that in the 50s they clearly had party lines.

    HECK, I even remember all the 4 prong plug to RJ11 converters, for the phones!

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post


      MissTerraK,

      What SCK said was based on where you were. The phone system as it stands for most from the 70s on came MUCH later than phones, and small towns tended to take the longest to ramp up. When I was a kid, they were STILL talking about exchanges like richmond 9, etc... And I love lucy showed that in the 50s they clearly had party lines.

      HECK, I even remember all the 4 prong plug to RJ11 converters, for the phones!

      Steve
      That explains it! I remember party lines from watching television like the Beverly Hillbillies, and thought it would be cool to have one just so I could listen to some other people's conversations, I was a curious little kid!

      But I wasn't in existence in the 1950's. I wasn't born until the 60's.

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        That explains it! I remember party lines from watching television like the Beverly Hillbillies, and thought it would be cool to have one just so I could listen to some other people's conversations, I was a curious little kid!

        But I wasn't in existence in the 1950's. I wasn't born until the 60's.

        Terra
        Same here BUT, as I recall, they WERE around in the 60s also. Just not in a lot of big areas, etc... Like I said, the stuff came LATE! All the little niceties we have now weren't all that popular, etc.. until the 70s.

        So I may not have had the party lines, but shows/commercials made it clear some parts of my area weren't automated, we had the 4 prong jacks, and PULSE(dial)! For a while, as I recall, you had to pay EXTRA for DTMF(aka TONE/PUSHBUTTON). Even in the 90s, and perhaps now, they were making pushbutton phones that could put out pulses if your lines didn't support DTMF.

        HEY, LOOK AT THIS! AMAZON STILL SELLS those 4 prong to rj11 edapters! Amazon.com: Leviton C0246-I 4-Prong To Modular...Amazon.com: Leviton C0246-I 4-Prong To Modular... I never knew WHY the 4 prong plugs were so HUGE, etc, could someone explain THAT to me?

        Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author KimW
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        .............
        But I wasn't in existence in the 1950's. I wasn't born until the 60's.

        Terra
        I hear a song coming!

        After all, *I* and a lot of others here were born in the 50s.

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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        That explains it! I remember party lines from watching television like the Beverly Hillbillies, and thought it would be cool to have one just so I could listen to some other people's conversations, I was a curious little kid!

        But I wasn't in existence in the 1950's. I wasn't born until the 60's.
        I wasn't born until the 1960's, either. We had a party line at my house until I was at least ten years old.
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        • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
          Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

          I wasn't born until the 1960's, either. We had a party line at my house until I was at least ten years old.
          Dang! I certainly missed out on a lot of fun then.

          Terra
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Uh Steve, everywhere I see gas still is priced in the fractions of a penny.
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  • Profile picture of the author ministerof
    2 INR for a big pack of GATHIYAS ( it is a GUJARATI ITEM ( INDIA ) ) .. which now costs 10 INR + !

    Prices are going very high ...
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    We lived in the country when I was a kid so we had a party line until we moved to a subdivision in the early mid 60's. It was a pain in the butt, but we had a rotary dial so were state of the art!

    My mom used to spring a buck fifty on me for lunch once a week at the local restaurant when I was in grade school. I had salad, fries, and a pork chop.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    And another thing... A medium drink used to be a medium, not a small.

    When did sizes become:
    medium large extra large?

    Medium IS small. I don't want to say "large" when I want a "medium". You're really not fooling us.
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  • Profile picture of the author sarahberra
    I don't drink coke, but my husband does and he says you can get cheap soday for 25-50 cents per can in some machines.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    When my mom was young, her father used to get paid $40 a week at work, and they paid him with two $20 gold coins. I wonder what they might be worth today if he had stashed a few of those away...
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly View Post

      When my mom was young, her father used to get paid $40 a week at work, and they paid him with two $20 gold coins. I wonder what they might be worth today if he had stashed a few of those away...
      In 2007, an MS63 coin was worth about $900! Apparently, they have .9675 oz of gold, so TODAY'S ****BASE**** price would be $1215.99USD! The reason why I say BASE is because it is likely that the coin is worth MORE than that, because it is a collectors item. But if someone offered you less than $1215.99 you could safely just laugh in their face, because that is just the value of the gold in the piece! That's inflation for you! BTW to put this in perspective, in 1933, gold was CONFISCATED! They tried to make it look legit by buying the gold, which they couldn't do because of the way the economy works, etc... so they set a value of $35/oz. SO, at the time, the value of those coins was $33.86! Of course, the US probably only paid $20 for THEM! 8-(

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author 2stace
    This is the most interesting forum thread I've ever come across. I wish stuff was this cheap and our wages were the same as they are today. (ha ha)

    I would be silly-happy on sugar if I could get chocolate bars for 5 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author inspiro
    I didn't grow up in the US, but I do remember when a (glass bottle of) coke was the equivalent of 10¢. This was back 1990.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by inspirohost View Post

      I didn't grow up in the US, but I do remember when a (glass bottle of) coke was the equivalent of 10¢. This was back 1990.
      In the nineties, the closest I ever got to $.10 was a can for about $.25 which was a supermarket KNOCKOFF! As I recall, the "real thing" cost about .50 at the time.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    10 cents even in the 90s isn't close to correct, 75 cents would be the more likely price range. But the poster says "a (glass bottle of) coke was the equivalent of 10¢"
    which I am taking to mean it was not here in the states.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by KimW View Post

      10 cents even in the 90s isn't close to correct, 75 cents would be the more likely price range. But the poster says "a (glass bottle of) coke was the equivalent of 10¢"
      which I am taking to mean it was not here in the states.
      Yeah but, outside of some SUBSIDIZED third world country, who could get it so cheap?
      I don't remember seeing real low prices in europe, except for some popular things THEY make and ship HERE.

      Now, I DID watch a show about an african town. There were problems, so a native african took the plant over, and he probably doesn't have to deal with a lot of the finances, and everyone farther down the chain is probably happy even to make a penny. It seemed like there was not really a lot of advertising other than word of mouth. If they bottle it THERE with stuff from there, I could maybe see it being cheap. Still, it is basically subsidized.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    "Now we get charged an arm and a leg for just a bottle of water. "

    If 20 years ago you had told most of us that we would even consider paying for water we would have laughed in your face.
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      True Kim!

      I remember when asking for water as my drink, it was a carry out order, that I rolled my eyes when they charged me for the cup. The water was free.

      Now we pay for the water and the container. Who woulda thunk?

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by MissTerraK View Post

        True Kim!

        I remember when asking for water as my drink, it was a carry out order, that I rolled my eyes when they charged me for the cup. The water was free.

        Now we pay for the water and the container. Who woulda thunk?

        Terra
        I once had to argue with a person that it was basically ILLEGAL to charge me a deposit. The state didn't allow it. They relented, but the IDEA!

        BTW most tap water was found to be BETTER than most bottled water! I have seen no less than 3 tests by three different agencies, and ALL end up the same!

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    "BTW most tap water was found to be BETTER than most bottled water! I have seen no less than 3 tests by three different agencies, and ALL end up the same!"

    That is true in most of the tests results I have seen too, Steve but just with everything else, they people are buying what they are being marketed, the idea they are getting better water , not the reality that they aren't.
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  • Profile picture of the author humbledmarket
    Banned
    Wow, I could do with a 5 cents hershey bar now...well not really a bit too much fat from all this sitting in front of the computer but it would be great.

    I doubt I can get a piece of white chocolate hershey for 5 cents now.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Yeah, the US used to be 100% self sustained and people were more patriotic. IMAGINE an economy where $.05 was easy to come by and actually WORTH something. You could buy almost an ounce of gold for $20, and the economy was STRONG! The American dream meant more than merely owning a home.

    And TODAY, people laugh and basically said that is a pipe dream and could never happen. YEAH, TODAY if the dollar gets too strong, people lose work, and companies get hurt. If the dollar gets too weak, we can't buy stuff we NEED. OH YEAH, .05 is worth practically nothing, and that gold costs over $1200!

    And to THINK I was toying with the idea of buying gold in the 80s when it was like $300. Then again, I waited a couple years for apple to go down to $14, because I was going to snap it up. Everything I checked it was like $17 or higher. TODAY, that would be over $2094.8!(because of splits and dividends)

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author The Wanderer
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      Yeah, the US used to be 100% self sustained and people were more patriotic. IMAGINE an economy where $.05 was easy to come by and actually WORTH something. You could buy almost an ounce of gold for $20, and the economy was STRONG! The American dream meant more than merely owning a home.

      Steve
      Well, you remember a different America than I do. When I bought my first gold in about 1970 it was to make jewelry-- which was good, because it was still illegal to own gold otherwise. (You could only buy it as jewelry or from a jewelry making supply store.) And the adults around grew up during the Depression. They remembered when 5 cents was pretty darned hard to come by and they didn't throw it around lightly. A coke was a special treat. And my middle class family was far from the only one where getting 'new school clothes' meant going to the attic and checking to see which among your older sister's dresses could be let out or taken in to fit...

      More patriotic? I remember marches against the war, flag-burning, the SLA, Black Panthers, the Weather Underground.

      The economy strong? I remember looking for a job during one recession and turning up nothing-- 0-- even the temp agencies that I'd always been able to fall back on weren't hiring. And then there were the gas lines and inflation running 10-15% a year. Some jobs started to index wages to inflation about that time-- but many didn't.

      Of course, to go back to the OP's question, there are many things about my childhood that I appreciate. We got to run around and play on our own, unsupervised from after school to dinner time-- and all day during the summer. We walked or rode our bikes into town by ourselves from the age of 6 or 7. Pretty much everyone (except for Catholics) went to public schools-- so funding wasn't a big problem-- any time they needed money people voted themselves a tax increase. I went to school with kids whose fathers were gas station attendants, factory workers- and a few others like mine who did research or taught at the university. They all seemed to make about the same amount of money. In fact judging by their 'toys' a lot of them made more than my father.

      I didn't ever meet anyone who seemed to be much richer or poorer than everyone else. There was a lot of factory work that didn't require a lot of skill or knowledge and paid really well, on the one hand. And executives earned a lot less than they do now-- and paid the top tax rate of 70%. Best of all, it was an exciting, hopeful time. Things had been getting materially better for most people for 30 or 40 years-- and now we were going to make things better in other ways too. Equal rights for blacks and women, sexual liberation for both sexes, focusing on spiritual instead of material values, discovering your talents and finding satisfying work, more leisure, more travel, learning about other cultures, being more open and tolerant...

      It was definitely a good time to be young, but judging by the scandalized comments of a lot of my friends' parents and grandparents, a very upsetting time to be middle aged or older...

      On the other hand, I find this a pretty exciting and interesting time to be alive, too-- and the reaction of the elders (of which I'm now one) to 'kids today' and the fears about whether we're going to wipe ourselves out to be pretty much the same -- if for different reasons-- as ever.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by The Wanderer View Post

        Well, you remember a different America than I do. When I bought my first gold in about 1970 it was to make jewelry-- which was good, because it was still illegal to own gold otherwise. (You could only buy it as jewelry or from a jewelry making supply store.) And the adults around grew up during the Depression. They remembered when 5 cents was pretty darned hard to come by and they didn't throw it around lightly. A coke was a special treat. And my middle class family was far from the only one where getting 'new school clothes' meant going to the attic and checking to see which among your older sister's dresses could be let out or taken in to fit...
        Yeah, You're right about the gold bit. And the gold WAS confiscated because of a depression. Kind of ironic and hypocritical(of the government). I even mentioned that here several places, I believe even a couple days ago, and slipped up. Still, there was a point later where nickles weren't so hard to come by and still had some good value. Before the 70s, I don't think they thought such an event would be possible again.

        More patriotic? I remember marches against the war, flag-burning, the SLA, Black Panthers, the Weather Underground.
        You ALWAYS have people like that. I could say more, but I won't because of the forum. Heck, there wasn't anything lnately wrong with protesting the war. There were valid reasons to be against it. And effectively one person doesn't dictate what patriotic means.

        The economy strong? I remember looking for a job during one recession and turning up nothing-- 0-- even the temp agencies that I'd always been able to fall back on weren't hiring. And then there were the gas lines and inflation running 10-15% a year. Some jobs started to index wages to inflation about that time-- but many didn't.
        Yeah and the unfortunate thing is that everyone really couldn't index wages against inflation, because that would just help spur it along. Based on your later comments, and some here, you are talking about the 1970s. That was actually after the period I was talking about.

        Of course, to go back to the OP's question, there are many things about my childhood that I appreciate. We got to run around and play on our own, unsupervised from after school to dinner time-- and all day during the summer. We walked or rode our bikes into town by ourselves from the age of 6 or 7. Pretty much everyone (except for Catholics) went to public schools-- so funding wasn't a big problem-- any time they needed money people voted themselves a tax increase. I went to school with kids whose fathers were gas station attendants, factory workers- and a few others like mine who did research or taught at the university. They all seemed to make about the same amount of money. In fact judging by their 'toys' a lot of them made more than my father.
        Outside of the idea of considering the public a piggy bank, that doesn't sound bad. 8-)

        ... but judging by the scandalized comments of a lot of my friends' parents and grandparents, a very upsetting time to be middle aged or older...
        Same now.

        On the other hand, I find this a pretty exciting and interesting time to be alive, too-- and the reaction of the elders (of which I'm now one) to 'kids today' and the fears about whether we're going to wipe ourselves out to be pretty much the same -- if for different reasons-- as ever.
        Well, I still would have trusted russia, and even china, more than iran, north korea, and pakistan. And, even if I didn't, at least it seemed like there was only one or two. And things are certainly planned to change quicker and more wholesale. Of course a lot of that circles back around to the comment you made about patriotism.

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by jjeeezy View Post

    Go to a country with a low standard of living everything's still as cheap. :]

    CHINA, INDIA, etc.
    And what would THAT accomplish?

    Besides, the costs are going up in BOTH areas! America USED to have the culture the US had, the income the US had, and the relatively low prices of china.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author jjeeezy
      Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

      And what would THAT accomplish?

      Besides, the costs are going up in BOTH areas! America USED to have the culture the US had, the income the US had, and the relatively low prices of china.

      Steve
      Simpler life I suppose.

      Although China's prices are appreciating it's still going to take quite a while until their prices equal to the U.S.

      A car there is like... 500 bucks (USD)... lol.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by jjeeezy View Post

        Simpler life I suppose.

        Although China's prices are appreciating it's still going to take quite a while until their prices equal to the U.S.

        A car there is like... 500 bucks (USD)... lol.
        Simpler life? COMMUNIST CHINA!?!?!? CROWDED or backwards INDIA!?!?!? BTW apparently the parts of india that, to an American, would seem good are VERY expensive, and probably crowded.

        As for the 500 buck USD car, DREAM ON! NOT any car like you would find anywhere else. BESIDES, when MERCEDES BENZ appeared in the US, it was only about $1000.

        BTW I just checked real estate in an indian city around one that might be considered good. BY FAR the cheapest place on the first screen of the site was 16.67 Lacs which I think is about $36097.88 USD And that is for a 1BR that is more like an apartment than a home. HECK, it says it IS a 585 SF APARTMENT! Could that $36097.88 be MONTHLY? http://www.axiomestates.com/real-est...0Gold&curr=inr

        HECK, I DIDN'T really have a conversion error. Here is what they say it is in USD

        http://www.axiomestates.com/real-est...umbai&curr=usd

        DON'T WORRY though! You can reserve your spot for only about $7804.67 USD within 30 days. And they provide FINANCING ASSISTANCE!

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author gareth
    Milk was 4c a bottle now its $3 a carton.

    Movies took 2 years to get to our theater, now you can download them as they are released.

    It was safe to leave your house unlocked and the door wide open when you were out and there was one murder a year in New Zealand, no hookers, no dope. The pubs shut at 6 pm and everything was shut on Sunday.

    Nobody was unemployed and the country didn't owe any money.

    Now we have the internet & next we'll have robots but we wont have a society worth living in any more.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by gareth View Post

      Milk was 4c a bottle now its $3 a carton.

      Movies took 2 years to get to our theater, now you can download them as they are released.

      It was safe to leave your house unlocked and the door wide open when you were out and there was one murder a year in New Zealand, no hookers, no dope. The pubs shut at 6 pm and everything was shut on Sunday.

      Nobody was unemployed and the country didn't owe any money.

      Now we have the internet & next we'll have robots but we wont have a society worth living in any more.
      YEAH, IRONIC, ISN'T IT! People have dreamed of robots for at least CLOSE to 100 years! The goal was that THEY do the work, and we relax and improve things.

      Well, we HAVE robots even now. Not quite as originally imagined, but we have them. A good example was a department of a bank I did a project for. 21 people VERY busy! My project amounted to a robot of sorts. OK, it was just a "fancy" record system that tracked loans. What happened? The bank did more business. The workload dropped, 17 people got reassigned.

      And computers HAVE gotten a LOT cheaper and more reliable BUT, in the end, we might wish they hadn't.

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Profit123
    Yeah, Cokes were a nickel, the Saturday double feature movie was 9 cents and included cartoons, continued serials, cartoons (multiple), and Movietone newsreels, popcorn was a nickel, candy a nickel, and 1 cent for a small peanut butter log. 25 cents, that's all you needed for entertainment and food, Saturday noonish until after dark! Times have certainly changed!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lou Diamond
    Hello,
    when I was a kid growing up in the 1960's I would do just about anything for 25 cents
    the price my kids charge for an errand is $50.00 so they can buy a video game.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve1776
    Its like my dad used to say, "Its not how much a loaf of bread costs, its how long you had to work to get it." Today a loaf of bread may cost more than it did in 1960 but I bet you don't have to work as long to get it. The only thing that has really gone up is the taxes. In 1913 the top rate was 7%. And that was only on those who made over $500,000. The average income was about $15,000 which had a 1% tax rate. Today...
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Steve1776 View Post

      Its like my dad used to say, "Its not how much a loaf of bread costs, its how long you had to work to get it." Today a loaf of bread may cost more than it did in 1960 but I bet you don't have to work as long to get it. The only thing that has really gone up is the taxes. In 1913 the top rate was 7%. And that was only on those who made over $500,000. The average income was about $15,000 which had a 1% tax rate. Today...
      You just destroyed your argument, though I think your numbers are wrong. In 1913 the average was $15000? If that is true, then people make a LOT less now! They certainly average less than $40,000 today, which is less than 4 times as much, and the tax rate is higher and paid in ADVANCE, so the pay is closer to like $20,000. So people today have about as much spending money as in 1913, but THEN the money was worth MORE!?!?!?

      But HEY, I have seen the benefit/work ratio change in just the past couple decades. SO, your father WAS right about his statement, but it really doesn't change things here.

      Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author The Wanderer
      Originally Posted by Steve1776 View Post

      ...The only thing that has really gone up is the taxes. In 1913 the top rate was 7%. And that was only on those who made over $500,000. The average income was about $15,000 which had a 1% tax rate. Today...
      That's in 2006 dollars-- meaning that in 1913 the average worker was living on the equivalent of about $15,000 today. (I couldn't find the actual number, but I believe it was in the $100's. $1 a day was considered a good working man's salary for quite a long time. My grandfather's diary in 1914 talks about teasing his mother by claiming not to care if he didn't earn much and then revealing that a 'mere' couple of thousand a year would satisfy him. That was a HUGE income then.)

      And the top marginal tax rate hasn't been 7% in the memory of more than a tiny number of people living today. By 1917 it had gone up to 67% and in the 50's it was a little over 90%. It didn't fall below 50% until 1987. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's election we had the start of what economists call 'The Great Compression' when, for the first time in our history, most people joined the middle class. In the mid 70's the trend reversed and has yet to stop.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by The Wanderer View Post

        That's in 2006 dollars-- meaning that in 1913 the average worker was living on the equivalent of about $15,000 today. (I couldn't find the actual number, but I believe it was in the $100's. $1 a day was considered a good working man's salary for quite a long time. My grandfather's diary in 1914 talks about teasing his mother by claiming not to care if he didn't earn much and then revealing that a 'mere' couple of thousand a year would satisfy him. That was a HUGE income then.)

        And the top marginal tax rate hasn't been 7% in the memory of more than a tiny number of people living today. By 1917 it had gone up to 67% and in the 50's it was a little over 90%. It didn't fall below 50% until 1987. Beginning with Franklin Roosevelt's election we had the start of what economists call 'The Great Compression' when, for the first time in our history, most people joined the middle class. In the mid 70's the trend reversed and has yet to stop.
        Now THAT sounds more like it! HECK, when I was in highschool, I figured I would be HAPPY to make $30,000. Of course, I hadn't taken several things into account. To achieve what I wanted, with taxes, I would have to make closer to $40,000. Tack on inflation to employment, and the income goes up to like $120,000. It is just NUTS! I figured $200,000 would be good for retirement. NOW, it is closer to $2million. And that would give me about $100,000/year before income, which SOUNDS like a lot BUT, who KNOWS what $100,000 will be worth. Heck, it might not be worth ANYTHING. Some say store it under the mattress. YEAH RIGHT! I bet the confederates said the SAME thing.

        Confederate notes are probably worth more now than they have been in over 100 years! Well, UNCIRCULATED, RARE, and encased as a collectors item, I found one $20 one for $129.98! In 1865, HECK at any point during the confederacy, an ounce of gold cost $18.93. SO, that $20 note SHOULD be worth about $1272.92. SO, even with its rarity and display case, it is worth about 1/10 of what it should be. And a bank probably wouldn't give you a penny for it.

        BTW using the SAME standard, $365 in 1916 would be about $23157.40 today.

        BTW bear in mind that I am NOT counting taxes!!!!!! Back then, $23157.40 @ a 7% tax rate was $23157.40- MAYBE some portion of the 7% eventually! TODAY $23157.40 is $18971.91 - state taxes + MAYBE some part of 4185.48 back EVENTUALLY!

        Steve
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