How Much Did It Cost in the 1950's?

[Madame X]

Some side notes on another thread made me think there is enough interesting material for its own discussion.

What references were made on ILL that reflected the cost of something in the 1950's?

For example:

15 cent hamburgers (the actual price before the price-slashing war) on "The Diner."

Babysitting for 50 cents/hour on "The Amateur Hour."

[schoolmom]

Rent-$125.00 a month for the Ricardo's apartment. When they move into the
Benson's apartment (to have the extra room for little Ricky) Fred says it will
cost them another $20.00 a month. Yet, when they were in the Swiss Alps,
Fred "confesses" that he charged them $10.00 more a month than anyone else
in the building! That doesn't make sense if the apartments are not all the same
size, as they obviously weren't. Anyway, getting back to the cost of things
back then, Some of the dresses Lucy buys are $49.99 -$59.99

[Ireneparalegal]

Weren't those dresses pretty costly considering it was the 50's? Or am I to assume they were of high quality, etc? I mean, I can go out and find me a dress for roughly $60 and to hear Lucy pay $49.95 and become worried at telling Ricky either means, Ricky was not too keen on Lucy spending that amount of money on a dress too often or it was just a high price, period.

Remember the dress shop, the blouse was quoted at $20. I can go out and buy a blouse for roughly $25-$30. Are we to assume the price of clothing hasn't changed that much? Input please.

The trip to Europe: $3000 for two people for three weeks of travel.

$500 for a Don Loper dress.

$40-$50 for hats.

Babysitting: free from the old lady next door.

$16 for a steering wheel.

[Haunted_Armoire]

Some bargain, randomly packaged and unrefrigerated meat sold out of a baby carriage:

Pssst! .79 Cents A Pound!!


Stomach problems that came afterward: PRICELESS!!!

[tdr]

In the washing machine ep, the original deal to buy the new one gets overshadowed by all that takes place later. But I've never been able to believe that Ricky could buy a new washing machine-- wholesale, didn't he say?-- and get $35 for a trade-in on their 'old' one. Most sellers of new appliances will not take trade-ins at all; if anythng, they're more likely to charge for hauling them away (and then they might make money off them, who knows?). Unfortunately, we're not told how much the new one did cost. But if the deal is plausible at all, that means washing machines must have been considerably more expensive, in terms of proportion of income, than they are now.

And the mink coat in the season 1 Fred-as-a-burglar episode-- $3500!

[Ireneparalegal]

THE QUIZ SHOW: Lucy wins $1000 and is only left with a nickel after how many months of bills have been piling up?

PIONEER WOMEN: It cost Ethel $23.75 for one pound of homemade butter.

HANDY DANDY: $7.98 for the chopper and $102 for "the works"

[Madame X]

In "The Business Manager," Lucy bought these items for Mrs. Trumbull:

a can of green beans
a box of saltine crackers
a big, fat roasting chicken
a quart of milk
a bottle of cooking sherry

all for $4.23!

[Haunted_Armoire]

Postage stamp, 3 cents.

Huge fruit basket $5.00

And Lucy's advance from Dorance & Co. Was that $50?

[Lodee]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Weren't those dresses pretty costly considering it was the 50's? Or am I to assume they were of high quality, etc? I mean, I can go out and find me a dress for roughly $60 and to hear Lucy pay $49.95 and become worried at telling Ricky either means, Ricky was not too keen on Lucy spending that amount of money on a dress too often or it was just a high price, period.

Remember the dress shop, the blouse was quoted at $20. I can go out and buy a blouse for roughly $25-$30. Are we to assume the price of clothing hasn't changed that much? Input please.

The trip to Europe: $3000 for two people for three weeks of travel.

$500 for a Don Loper dress.

I think the clothes were costly too! Considering the Ricardo's weren't anywhere near rich, I think $500 for a dress was very expensive. Especially for the 50's. How much would that be today? I don't think I've even spent $100 on a dress.

[Haunted_Armoire]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Weren't those dresses pretty costly considering it was the 50's? Or am I to assume they were of high quality, etc?

Irene those prices were pretty average for a "daily" dress back then. Yes the workmanship was better and it often included overcoats and undercoats like crinolines and petticoats. When Lucy shopped at Don Loper, and in Paris, she was paying for COUTURE. So obviously she wanted this stuff and Ricky had to cough up. Regardless it cost him about 5 months rent??

[Ireneparalegal]

Thanks my peeps, my post abt the clothes question was merely for all the other clothes Lucy purchased (or rather, put on credit), minus the Don Loper original. I have never spent more than $150 for a formal dress. I can't imagine wanting to spend (or have my spouse spend) $500 for a dress. I would have to wear it many, many times to get the full value out of that.

[Haunted_Armoire]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Thanks my peeps, my post abt the clothes question was merely for all the other clothes Lucy purchased (or rather, put on credit), minus the Don Loper original. :

I knew that!

[schoolmom]

This has been a really fun thread. I wish we could think of more! The only
other thing I can think of is when Lucy baby-sat the Hudson twins, the going
rate for baby-sitting was .50 an hour, except Mrs. Hudson was willing to pay
$5.00 an hour!

[tdr]

Originally Posted by Lodee

I think $500 for a dress was very expensive. Especially for the 50's. How much would that be today? I don't think I've even spent $100 on a dress.

Perhaps that shows there was still a lot of class distinction in clothing in the 1950's; and/or after 2 decades of depression, war, then returning to a prosperous peacetime economy, people who could delighted in having nice things again, as also shown by the "baby boom" and new houses, suburbs and bedroom communities. GI loans and new technologies and the cold war connived at such prosperity.

a can of green beans
a box of saltine crackers
a big, fat roasting chicken
a quart of milk
a bottle of cooking sherry

all for $4.23!

And what was Lucy's bill at 'the market?' $470+ (I think). And how many people did she buy groceries for, and for how long? If this was more than 100x what seemed to be a typical "order" for one of her neighbors,.....

[Haunted_Armoire]

Let's hope Lucy wore her Don Loper original for many years after she got it. And let's also hope she used Ricky's check later on for gifts for HIM and for household expenses! She technically "stole" that money from Ricky!