Interesting info from the US Census:

For the country as a whole, the average (median) income of families in 1962 was about $6,000.

In 2024, the median salary in the US stood at $82,685 for a two-person family.

It would be interesting to do the math for certain items, and see how things actually compare, relative to income.

Eggs (above) .39 cents / Dz, nyuk. I get a chuckle when old tv shows like Andy Griffith or I Love Lucy are on when the characters are at a store or a diner. Signs on the wall say Bacon .59 cents/lb or a Steak dinner for $1.39

The price for Coca Cola seemed high until I saw it was for a case of 24 glass bottles. But then again, I remember nickle Coke machines.

Exactly, bookwoman. I believe I've come upon the stat before, and the answer is that Americans spend a surprisingly smaller percentage of their income on food than was ever the case in the past.

CPI says $1 in 1962 would be $10.69 now. These are of course sale prices

patriciae

I loved coming across old restaurant menus, when cleaning out my parents’ house. Filet mignon with accompaniments, $4.95.

Patricia, the longer the interval between dates being compared, the less informative CPI index changes are.

Spending habits, spending baskets, and the like change over time. Index changes over the short to medium term can be useful. Out beyond more than 5 or 10 years, much less so.

I'm amused at the juxtaposition of the items in the bottom center. Spray starch, Tide and cream cheese. That must have been the "other stuff" circle.

I remember in those days the checkers used to call out the prices as they checked you out..."29 cents, 59 cents...etc" I have a mental image of myself at self-checkout calling out the prices..."7.99, 12.99, 10.69...etc"

Thanks - fun to see and reminisce 🙂

"No Parking Problems! No congestion!"

As opposed to shopping in the city center, perhaps?

And extended store hours as well, it looks like

Couldn't help notice peat moss for sale. Was that common to find in a grocery store back then? I know my mother never brought home a delicious bag of it..

With the state of the sky high prices during this trying period does anyone like to time travel to bring back those goodies? A 20$ greenback purchases would be a haul from the store.

Fun to see.

It's interesting to compare prices from the past using the CPI's inflation calculator - turns out a lot of everyday things aren't really that much more expensive, when adjusted for inflation.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

I do have to wonder how much longer we'll have access to this useful national data...?

" It's interesting to compare prices from the past using the CPI's inflation calculato "

I think I asked before and you didn't answer - what do you find this useful for?

" With the state of the sky high prices during this trying period does anyone like to time travel to bring back those goodies? "

Shall we also time travel back and have the paychecks from then too?

I first noticed the very happy woman in a frilly apron.

@Lars - Interesting about going downtown for drugstores. Where did you grow up?

I grew up on the east coast and we had independent corner drugstores throughout our neighborhoods. When I moved to Philadelphia 15 years ago so many of them still existed. I live in New York now and purchase drugs from our 100 year old neighborhood pharmacy.

The location (83rd and Mission Rd.) of this store would have been in the outer suburbs of the Kansas City metro at that time.

I see that both stores have a 'freebie' -- a cereal bowl in 1962 and a can of cleanser in 1932. The thirties ad invites to to 'Drive By'. Huh? The hog jowls are four and a half cents a pound. (A half cent! Now we're eliminating pennies.)

“I first noticed the very happy woman in a frilly apron.”

LOL, olychick, June Cleaver sans pearls!

“…would have been in the outer suburbs of the Kansas City metro at that time.”

LJ, my SIL sent it to me. She said it’s “the grocery store I grew up with” which, I think, would have been Leawood, KS. She’s now in Prairie Village and still shops there. She mentioned the store’s name changing to ”Hen House” at some point.

I grew up in Temple, in central Texas, and it had a population of about 35,000 in 1960. The nearest shopping mall was in Waco, 35 miles north. It did also have corner drug stores in the neighborhoods, like the grocery stores, but we went to one that was downtown, and it specialized in wedding present registries, and so it sold a lot of household items, including dishes and kitchenware. It also had a counter and some booths where it served counter food, such as hamburgers, malts, and banana splits.

" the checkers used to call out the prices as they checked you out..."29 cents, 59 cents ".

I was one of those, a grocery store clerk in the late 60s-early 70s. I was both a stocking clerk and a cashier in the check stand when it got busy. We stamped prices on items as we put them on shelves and at the check stand, the checker had to find it to then enter the price manually in the cash register. The challenge starting out was sorting out the pricing style used then, needing immediate recall for the price of one item when priced 2 for 35, or 4/89 or 3/49, etc

It was a great part-time job for a student. High pay rates (higher than anything else available), flexible hours, and the shelf stocking was heavy work that kept me in shape. For you SoCal-ers, I worked for Ralphs. For its niche, I've always thought Ralphs was a better than the rest store then and still is now (excluding more specialty stores like Whole Foods). We shop there often when down south.

Chloebud - I believe Leawood is correct. It is right next to Prairie Village. I don't venture over to the Kansas side very often as it is about an hours drive one way from my home southeast of the metro.

She mentioned the store’s name changing to ”Hen House” at some point.

Hen House is one of the more upscale regional grocery chains in the metro. All are on the Kansas side of the state line now. Hy-Vee and Price Chopper dominate on the Missouri side.

LJ, thanks. My brother and SIL lived in KC (MO) for years in an area called Brookside, if you know of it (?). I’ve always thought it’s a very pretty area. They moved to Prairie Village some 6 years ago when my brother retired from Hallmark. They often comment about missing Brookside.

I have a cousin who has lived in Brookside for several decades. It is a nice area of older refurbished homes. Unfortunately much of surrounding area is not so nice.

They had a beautiful home there but decided to downsize. They’re frequently traveling to look at other states. Something tells me they’ll stay where they are.

I guess all things are relevant. My husband's first salary was$ 6000 a year right after graduating from Penn State with a degree in forestry. I remember when we were first married, my grocery bill was around $12 a week, and as I recall, we had lobster tail every Friday night. On the old flyer, I saw eggs were 39 cents and just two or three years ago, I was paying $1.29 for jumbo. So that surprised me.

We also bought a house in our early 20s for $15,000. It was a two-story clapboard house with windowboxes, two stone fireplaces, one in the living room, the other outside. Three large bedrooms and a large screened-in porch on 1/2 acre! Hard to believe. I'd love to see it now and the latest selling price.

“I'd love to see it now and the latest selling price.”

Lily, have you looked it up for a current view and price history? In 1974 my in-laws sold their 5,600 sq. ft. home on 1/2 acre here (La Canada-Flintridge, CA) for $100K. I well remember thinking WHO ON EARTH could afford a house for that price! The “then and nows” can be crazy. Maybe even a bit more so here where it’s truly out of reach for many, especially first time buyers.

Lily - My weekly food budget when first married was also $12.00! I recall what a chore it seemed to be to both of us hauling up so many heavy bags of groceries three flights of stairs.

My DM shoped at the IGA until it folded, unable to compete with chains. I remember sawdust on the floor behind the butcher counter. I remember her turning in a can of kitchen grease there during WWII.

One of our neighbors was in management with the A & P. When his wife hosted the neighborhood bridge or book review party, she'd make him go to the store to buy "only the freshest lemons" to slice for tea. He humored her. When their DD worked there as a teenager she learned that the store received a giant load of lemons twice a year.

I, too, enjoy seeing things like this. I actually saved the newspapers from the days my kids were born so they could look back and see what was going on the day we were born--prices and news. They are still too young to appreciate it, though. They are 44, 38, and 36. But maybe in another 20 years or so...lol