| |  | | Lynn Carpenter | The market basket of real food items that I compiled from 1938 to the present, compared to the minimum wages of the time, sparked a few memories and some agreement that inflation is much higher than official figures recognize. “In the mid 50's through the early '60's we could go to a DOUBLE feature with all the trimmings for 25 cents a head. Today that would not even pay the tax” John That was cheap. Just 15 minutes work at the 1956 minimum wage of $1.00. That was probably the Saturday kids’ matinee, which cost as little as 10 cents in many cities back then. I doubt there is any bargain like this to be had today outside a public library (and you can’t buy popcorn). As I mentioned briefly, Mexico is one of the countries that has had real food crises recently. Here’s what Jim E, says: of the situation: “We live in Mexico full time and it is easy to see the problem down here. The only saving grace here is the availability of fresh foods in the mercados and farmers markets. Each time we return to the US we are shocked by the prices of everything.” Fresh food is often more expensive than canned food here in the United States except for a few farmers markets. One way to beat the price of some food is to grow your own. But Doug sees problems with that: “Most fruits and veggies sold these days are altered in the labs so that the seeds of the fruit do not replicate if planted. If you look at the seeds available to purchase, most say hybrid… obviously if the answer to the rising food prices are that lawns will turn into gardens again, where do you buy good seeds that are natural so you don’t have to keep buying new seeds all the time? Actually, that’s a piece of cake. Glad I can answer something so easily. The simplest way to find seeds for vegetables that you can plant, harvest and gather the seeds to plant another year is at Burpee’s. Order a catalog or go online (www.burpees.com). You will find what you are looking for in the “heirloom” category. Another source is Victory Seeds, which specializes in heirloom, open-pollinated seeds (www.victoryseeds.com). About those hybrids, though, it’s not all evil. Ironically, W. Atlee Burpee himself introduced the first hybrid tomato, back in 1934. Some recent hybrids are meant for commercial growers who want quantity and good shipping—those awful things we get in the grocery store. But many hybrids were developed for better taste or disease resistance. Andy and I like growing some of our own vegetables and herbs every year. Even when we lived in a narrow city home with no back yard to speak of, we rented a city garden plot. It’s taste that drives us, and some of our favorites are hybrids. Nothing beats fresh Silver Queen corn. I’m also partial to my Early Girl tomatoes. But I also like to can or freeze the nicely acidic non-hybrid Rutgers for sauces and soups. (Bet you never guessed I was such a homebody.) But it was Steve C. who had the best list of how things had changed in terms of prices and earning power” “I like your comparisons, but I've had a different set of prices I've used over the years... personal memories. For instance, when I was 17 years (1968) I went to work in the cotton mill after school, minimum wages were 1.60. At that time, I could go to the world-renowned (really) Lexington Barbecue (Lexington, NC) and get 2 barbecue sandwiches, fries and a coke for a dollar. Candy bars were a nickel; the early 16 oz cokes were 10c in the machines (and you got to bring back the bottle for 2c, lowering the actual cost to 8c). Cigarettes were 20c a pack, and my heart’s dream-- a brand new Mustang-- was 1800-2400 depending on whether and how much it was "loaded" ... radio, power steering, automatic transmission all were extras then, even whitewalls!!. Gas was 25 cents or less. “ So, from my memory, you could get for your hour's work at minimum wages your choice of... 32 candy bars, 20 cokes, 8 packs of smokes, 1.6 good lunches, gas...6.4 gallons, and it would take 1500 hrs (37.5 forty hour weeks) for the top of the line fully loaded mustang. Ok, today at 75c, 32 candy bars are $24... 20 cokes at $1.29 are $25.80… 8 packs of smokes at $4.50 are 36 bucks, 6.4 gallons of gas are $23.36 and that same 1.6 lunches would be $10. And a car that’s as hot as the mustang was in 1968, fully loaded would be at least 20k. “Comparing what you could get minimum wages then and now (1.60:5.85, or 1:3.66) and extrapolate you find:
candy bars 6.5 hrs
cokes 7 hrs
smokes 9.8 hours
lunch 2.7 hrs
gas 6.4 hrs
Mustang... 5464 hrs...or 3.64 as much “From that perspective, it would take anywhere from 2.7x as many hours (lunch) to 9.8 (cigarettes) to buy the same stuff you could in 1968. So, with your comparison of 3 3/4 hrs for your basket then and 5.5 now, that’s only 1.47 ratio, whereas the "memory" average is 7. My memory is pretty selective, but real goods, nonetheless. I included car, gas…you need them to get to the store. Cigarettes were a staple in the 60's too.” Good job. Both my market basket and Steve’s “selective personal memory,” only include part of the problem with living costs today. As Lee S. would add, “… how do the minimum wage earners get to the market? Unless they are within walking distance, there is another factor to consider, gas! I think by the time all the ripple effects of the rising prices of oil shake out we will all be paying a lot more to put that basket of food on our tables.” Other costs have raised the pressure on us, too. My car insurance costs more on a monthly basis now than my car payments came to 20 years ago. My first mortgage payment on an admittedly tiny Florida home was $54.10 a month. That won’t get you a night at the Red Roof Inn these days. Then there are the small luxuries that I don’t begrudge anyone, even the poor. Like watching television sometimes. In 1956, you bought a television, you bought an antenna and that was the sum total of your expenses. After that, you could see anything that was on. Today, the good stuff’s on cable—even the Disney channel. We all got Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland for free.
Officially, inflation has added 3-4% a year to our living costs. Unofficially, we know it’s much higher. Thanks for chipping in with your own observations. Lynn P.S. To let me know what you thought of today's article, send an e-mail to: feedback@investorsdailyedge.com. INTERNAL ENDORSEMENT Winners Cherry Pick!
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