# $20 for food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



## fuzzybuddy (Jan 17, 2016)

I don't know why I'm on this nostalgia thing, but....
When I was a little tyke ,in the early 50s, my mom came in from buying the week's groceries for a family of 4. She was so angry. Do you know she spent $20 on food.    OMG, what the hell was happening to this country.
For God's sake- $20 for food!!!!!


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## applecruncher (Jan 17, 2016)

In 1950 $20 would be $198 in today's dollars.
In 1955 $20 would be $175 in todays dollars.

$198 for a week's groceries for a family of 4 today (or $20 in 1950) isn't unusual or unreasonable at all.

Fuzzy, your mother was able to buy a LOT for that $20.

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50sfood.html

_American Cheese __45 cents per pound __New Hampshire New Hampshire 1950
Apples __39 cents for 2 pounds __Florida 1952
Bananas __27 cents for 2 pounds __Ohio 1957
Box of Chocolates __$1.86 for 1lb __Florida 1955
Cabbage __6 cents per pound __New Hampshire 1950
Campbells Tomato Soup __10 cents __Ohio 1957
Carnation Milk Can __14 cents __Ohio 1957
Chickens __43 cents per pound __New Hampshire 1950
Chuck Roast __59 cents per pound __Florida 1952
Coffee __37 cents 1 pound __Florida 1952
Cream Corn __3 cans for 38 cents __California 1959
Eggs __79 cents for a dozen __New Jersey 1956
Family Style Loaf of bread __12 cents __Florida 1952
Frozen Chicken Pie __19 cents __Ohio 1957
Frozen green Beans __24 cents per 1/2 pound __New Hampshire 1950
Gerbers Baby Foods __10 cents __California 1959
Grape Jelly __19 cents __Ohio 1957
grapefruit __25 cents for 6 __Florida 1952
Hamburger meat __89 cents for 3 pounds __Ohio 1957
Heinz Cream of Tomato __25 cents for 2 cans __Tennessee 1952
Hunts Fruit Cocktail __23 cents per can __Ohio 1957
Hunts Tomato Juice __15 cents __California 1959
Jiffy Cake Mix __10 cents __Ohio 1957
Juicy Oranges __69 cents for 2 dozen __New Hampshire 1950
Kelloggs Shreaded Wheat __18 cents __Ohio 1957
Kraft Cheese Slices __29 cents pk __New Hampshire 1950
Potatoes __10 lb bag 35 cents __Kansas 1953
Porterhouse Steak __95 cents lb __Maine 1950
Lamb Chops __49 Cents per pound __New Hampshire 1950 _


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## Don M. (Jan 18, 2016)

It's all relative....back in the 1950's, $2/hr. was considered a pretty good wage.  Today, $20/hr. is probably pretty close to the average....so prices have gone up 10 times, and so have wages.  There were brief periods when wages grew faster than prices, but wages have remained stagnant over the past few years...so, on balance...most people are little better off today, than they were 60 years ago.


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## JaniceM (Jul 1, 2017)

fuzzybuddy said:


> I don't know why I'm on this nostalgia thing, but....
> When I was a little tyke ,in the early 50s, my mom came in from buying the week's groceries for a family of 4. She was so angry. Do you know she spent $20 on food.    OMG, what the hell was happening to this country.
> For God's sake- $20 for food!!!!!



I don't know about the early 50s, but I recall my parents talking about the weekly shopping trips when both of my siblings were still at home-  that would have been before 1965-  and for a family of 5 they spent $40 a week on groceries.  
Everything was made from scratch, and the only canned food we had were canned vegetables.


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