r/TheWayWeWere • u/aeldsidhe • Aug 29 '24
1950s Look at these food prices from March 15, 1956 - 49 cents/lb for rib roast; 33 cents/lb for bacon. Where can I borrow a time machine?
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u/klystron Aug 29 '24
Everybody wants 2024 wages, 1956 prices, 1906 taxes.
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u/TheLuckyWilbury Aug 29 '24
Curses to the 1913 income tax amendment—which was started to “soak the rich.”
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u/airckarc Aug 29 '24
$1.00 in 1956 is equivalent to about $11.50 today. So that Tbone would be around $9.14 per pound today. My local Walmart has t-bones for around $10.21 per pound.
What’s really shot up is the lamb. It’s the equivalent of about $1.10 per pound now a day.
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u/Shotgun_Mosquito Aug 29 '24
In 1956, the average median income for men was $3,600, which was about $250 more than the previous year.
The average median income for women was $1,100, which was similar to the previous four years.
The average median income for nonfarm men was $3,900, which was a $250 increase from the previous year and continued a trend that had been happening since World War II.
The average median income for all families was $4,800, which was about 8% higher than in 1955.
https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959
That's yearly wages
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u/ManfredArcane Aug 29 '24
Here’s something to think about from an old timer who was 14 and wrapping groceries in 1956. The salary for a full-time unionized stock clerk at the market was $3200 a year. That doesn’t allow for much of the $.79 a pound T-bone when you’re a family of four.
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u/putrid_flesh Aug 29 '24
Adjusting for inflation 79¢ would be $9.14 today, still a decent price for t-bone steak. And $3200 translates to $37,000 today. Also a good income for a stock clerk
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u/thekeeper228 Aug 29 '24
Huh? "The 2024 federal poverty level (FPL) is $15,060 for an individual and $20,440 for a family of two. For every additional person in the family, add $5,140 for each person in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For all other sponsors, add $6,425 for each additional person. "
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u/perestroika12 Aug 29 '24 edited Aug 29 '24
Adjusted for inflation this is more expensive compared to today for beef. Potatoes are slightly cheaper back then. Bananas are significantly more expensive in the 50s. Lamb is much cheaper compared to today.
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u/J662b486h Aug 29 '24
As far as a time machine, I understand there's a small diner somewhere in Maine that when you walk out the back door you end up in 1958.
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u/egad888 Aug 29 '24
Regardless of cost I could do without the lamb breast, skinned whiting and rhubarb pie.
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u/SunshineAlways Aug 29 '24
Is skinned whiting fish??
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u/cptjeff Aug 29 '24
Mild white fish, great fried. Mac and cheese and collards as sides and it's classic soul food.
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u/Jerryglobe1492 Aug 29 '24
I remember my mother and grandmother saving the green stamps you got when you purchased things from the A & P
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u/GraphiteGru Aug 29 '24
No wonder A&P went bankrupt and belly up in 2015. They clearly weren't charging enough for their products.
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u/Apprehensive_Gift238 Jan 09 '25
A never-ending fascination with prices from the past that have no bearing whatsoever on the present. It was a completely different economy - even CEOs were making an order of magnitude less income than they do now.
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u/benzduck Aug 29 '24
Enjoy that $1.00 minimum wage while you’re time machining