Life has been a little crazy lately. Especially when it comes to mealtimes.
Since moving out of the Airbnb we were staying in a few days ago and then moving into another short term rental, we’ve pretty much been eating out or picking up takeout.
Which in all honesty, has been kind of nice. And stress free. And totally delicious. It’s basically like we’re on vacation mode and as soon as we get moved into our new place, I’ll continue to track what we’re eating/spending on groceries. But for now, I’m just rolling with it.
Change is good. Especially when it comes in the form of tea and pastries and food that gets set down in front of you on a plate. 🙂
So since I didn’t bother to take many food photos last week, today I thought I’d answer the question I know you’ve all been wondering… How Much Did Groceries Cost in 1943?
Why 1943 specifically? Well, last weekend when we visited the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, one of the historic houses that was open to museum goers was the Abbot House and Store.
The house was built in 1720, but the year of interpretation by the Strawbery Banke Museum was 1943.
The home and store of Walter and Bertha Abbott stands on Jefferson Street. They opened their store in 1919, and after Walter died in 1938, Bertha operated the store until 1950.
Mom-and-pop stores like theirs were threatened with extinction by the development of supermarkets but received a new lease on life in World War II when there was a local population explosion and war-time rationing.
With grocery prices at an all time high these days, I thought it would be fun to share some photos of the prices of some basic goods back in 1943.
I wonder if people in 1943 thought 3 cans of Campbell’s soup for a quarter was a good deal. I think the last time I bought a can of Campbell’s soup it was $1.00. Since I’ve started making my all time favorite copy cat Panera tomato soup a decade ago, I no longer buy their tomato soup.
Anyone know what the current price is?
Toilet paper. Now there’s a stock up price!
Nabisco shredded wheat. Do they still make that?
Graham crackers used to come in 1 pound boxes until not too long ago. Now the boxes are only 14.4 ounces. Shrinkflation. I wonder if it was a thing back then too?
Also, I love the fact that there were simply less products offered in a grocery store back in the 40’s. Exactly when did grocery stores get filed with so much junk anyway?
Another thing I thought was interesting about the 1943 prices, was that tea was more expensive than coffee. Anyone know why? Maxwell House, $0.35 a can, boy, I bet all you coffee drinkers out there would love to see those prices again {or even those prices x10 again}.
Anyway, it’s always fun to see what things used to cost. Not only in museums, but in movies and old television shows as well.
I don’t know about you, but I am always trying to get a good look at the prices when they have scenes with people walking by a grocery store {the movie The Notebook comes to mind}.
It’s bad enough knowing I used to be able to buy a Charleston Chew for a quarter, but there are still people that remember even paying less than that!
Monday, it’s here! I hope it’s a good one for you.
~Mavis
Katelyn says
Minimum wage as set by the FLSA in 1940 was $.30 an hour (it went to $.40 in 1945). I think if we’re gonna compare prices, that’s a pretty important data point! Really puts something that costs $.25 into perspective.
Rita says
Very good point!
Kristina says
Yes, I had a similar thought. I may be incorrect, but I think I remember reading that folks back then paid a much greater percentage of their income for food. It’s all relative. For sure.
Dina says
Truly!
The only way to compare these apples and oranges are with inflation rate percentages hand in hand with cost of living percentages.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
My grandmother had a store and she lived in the back. I was very young, so grocery prices escaped me. However, she had a glass-fronted candy case with all sorts of penny candy. When we left her house/store to go back to Jackson, MS or to Memphis, TN, she would give each of us five children a tiny bag with ten pieces of penny candy. I always got Tootsie Rolls because they lasted longer. Plus, I loved chocolate. The Tootsie Rolls were over 3″ long, unlike the tiny things today. So, penny candy is the only thing I can remember. I was born in 1946, so the prices I remember were up until the age of ten. I do remember that she got what people wanted from the shelves, taking the customer’s list around the store.
I also look at prices in movies. In Gunsmoke sugar was 2 cents per pound.
Practical Parsimony
Margo says
I remember 5cent packs of gum, 10cents for a Hershey bar. My mom would send me to the corner store for a quart of milk if we ran out before the milkman made his next delivery. That cost a whopping 33cents for one quart. As a young wife in the mid 1970’s, I remember buying whole chickens for about 35cents a pound. My, how things have changed!
Rosemary says
I remember penny candy! There was a “mom & pop” type store in my neighborhood that sold penny candy. I was a regular there!
Back in 1973 (when I was first married), we had a budget of $25 per week for groceries and that included breakfast, lunch and meat for every dinner. But our income was lower as well.
Sue says
I remember candy at 2 for 1 penny! Maybe those were Midwestern prices, I don’t know.
The 2/.01 selection was Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Sixlets, Mary Janes, Root Beer Barrels, & Bit o’ Honey.
Not the most-sought-after varieties. But when all you had was a nickel, quantity mattered over all. You had a tiny bag, reasonably filled, and felt like the world was yours…
Dina says
This comment is so filled with joy and makes me reminisce on my own childhood… Thank you for sharing!
dj_1973 says
Yes, Post makes Shredded Wheat now. It’s still delicious.
Deb from Ohio says
I like to look at an online inflation calculator. It shows a dollar in 1943 would be worth $18.15 today.
Jennifer says
Campbell’s cream of soups in in NC are $1.26. Great Value brand is .68.
Tammy says
Using an inflation calculator, the $.11 bread would be $2 in today’s economy; the $.25 for 3 cans of soup would be $4.54.
Tammy says
My great grandparents farmed grapes (which they dried for raisins for SunMaid) during that time period and beyond, so that was fun to see the raisin box.
Also, the tea and coffee prices probably had to do with the source and how hard they would have been to import.
Dina says
Yes!
The prices are pulled from 1943, obviously war time. Tarifs and reduced imports are most likely the cause.
So neat that your family grew for SunMaid ! I hope they were treated well by the company… It wasn’t the standard at the time.
Blissfully in the shadows says
If I was in that era, I would definitely do what I’m doing now which is to make my own food. Some of the things that you posted were baked beans, graham crackers, chicken noodle soup, cereal yeah I definitely feel like I’d be making things.
Tina says
Mavis I saw where they have London Fog Milano cookies as a Limited Edition right now.
Mavis Butterfield says
I’m am going to have to track those down!!!
Dina says
PLEASE let us know where you find them!!
Maybe a give away in the future? 😉
Anne says
My mother used a cheap plastic calculator when she shopped in the 1970s. I distinctly remember her grocery budget was $25.00 per week including the National Enquirer and Woman’s Day or Women’s World. She rarely went over her budget..
Also I remember a local burger place had 19c hamburgers and 23c cheeseburgers a few years earlier.
Tracie says
My paternal grandfather was born in 1926 which would have made him 17 years old in 1943. He was married with a child on the way by then and he worked in the mines for $1.00 a day to support his little family. Which grew to nine children in just a few more years. So using that perspective, those prices aren’t really that great, right? Which is also why my family grew *almost* all of their food. They didn’t buy things like Campbells soup in a can, they made it from the chickens and vegetables they raised. They also grew extra corn to barter for flour because they didn’t grow wheat. I like looking back to “the good old days”, but I’ll take reliable electricity, water at the turn of the handle and my washer and dryer any day.