Historic prices, Morris County, NJ
The prices listed in this survey were published in the Daily Record [Morristown, New Jersey] newspaper, the first fifteen days of selected months each decade. Staple items in several popular consumer categories were selected: automobiles, clothing, food & beverages, furniture, household goods, newspapers, personal care & health, real estate and recreation. Special categories include garden equipment (1902-2002 & 1903-2003), professional services (1902-2002), school supplies (1909-1999), tobacco & alcohol (1901-2001) and tools (1905-2005). Whenever possible, we selected items/brands (men's suits, garden hoses, Kellogg's Corn Flakes) found in today's stores. This makes it possible to take a 1925 "shopping list" to your local supermarket or department store and compare prices.Items differ between decades because some were not advertised or were advertised without prices (20% off). Some things were invented along the way (televisions, microwave ovens) and others were selected because they illustrate significant items from a specific decade (cashmere sweaters, food processors). What is NOT advertised, as in NO new car ads in 1944 (World War II, gas rationing and metal going to defense industries), can be as important as what is. The problems of quantity and quality also figure prominently in any price comparison project. That's why we included unit sizes and brand names when listed.
Finding prices in your area
Check with you local library to see what old newpaper files are available for your area. Please note: with the exception of
selected papers serving major cities (New York, Boston, Hartford, Washington DC, etc.),
old newspapers are stored on microfilm. If you are researching prices in a different part of the country, your librarian may
be able to borrow reels of microfilm for you.
Teacher tips
Database source
Print sources
Finding local historic prices is a great project, as long as you can be flexible with the items. Why? Prices in
newspaper ads reflect seasonal availability, popular demand, company promotion, and product surplus. Some products
rarely go on sale (a bag of Hershey's Kisses), making their prices almost impossible to track. If you want your students
to compare prices based on newspapers ads you will have the most success if you stick with the basics: bread, soap,
shampoo, mattresses, movie tickets, automobiles. Don't waste your student's time scanning through weeks of microfilm
looking for one specific product or brand. Pricing is competitive; store/generic brands are always a little cheaper than
national brands. It also makes sense to pick a week (first week in May?) to deflect the seasonal nature of pricing. Some items
are best found in specific seasons (school supplies in September, toys in December, garden supplies in June).
Before assigning this project, contact your public library and ask if it owns the old papers on microfilm. If not,
the librarians can direct you to the closest holding library. Also ask about microfilm reader-printer availability & costs.
AVERAGE U.S. PRICE DATA
The U.S. Dept. of Labor, U.S. Dept. of Energy, and other
federal agencies track retail prices for various items throughout the country. Historical data varies by commodity
(sugar 1890+, gasoline 1919+) and is NOT brand-specific. Some commodity prices are also reported by region. Some retail
prices (furniture, lawn mowers, sneakers) are NOT tracked by the federal government. Use these sources:
Web sources
A note about wartime prices:
...corn, rice, flour, bread, molasses, rum, beef, pork, sugar
...flour, bread, meat, dairy products, fruits & vegetables, coffee, margarine and sugar
...dozens of items including peanut butter, applesauce, potato chips & ice cream
...Coca Cola, Hershey Bars & McDonald's Hamburgers from product launch to present times
Excellent compendiums of prices for popular items extracted from federal statistical sources, advertisements, company catalogs
(Sears, Montgomery Ward) and other primary sources. Prices are provided for food, clothing, furniture, household goods,
medical items, personal care, automobiles, amusements and more. Data also extends to consumer expenditures, average
salaries, selected stock prices, gasoline prices, telephone rates and U.S. postage. NOTE: These books are available in many public libraries.
Selected food and commodity prices (hogs, salt), 1827-1861.
Food, gasoline and other essential items are often precious commodities during
wartime. Prices are determined by availability and governmental regulation. In World War I our federal government
established the U.S. Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover. During World War II the Office of Price Administration
(1942-1945) set the prices of various consumer goods to stabilize the economy in the United States.
War ration books were required to purchase some
items.
http://www.mclib.info/prices/index.html
If a man's suit cost $30.00 in 1934, how much would that be in
"today's" dollars?
You can use
© Morris County Library
30 June 2008
