Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-02-12
PRICES IN OLDEN TIMES.
The Cost of Living in the Days of Charles
Second

Second.
The prices of things in the time of
Charles the Second may be found interest.
ing. In considering them remember that
the general purchasing power of money
was then four times that Of the present
time. A leg of mutton generally cost two
and six pence; shoulder, two shillings; a
hand of pork, eighteen pence; "a cheese"
they had one every week, but it is not
stated how much it weighed-varied from
one and two pence to one and eight pence.
Butter was eight or nine pence a pound !;
they used about pound a week Sugar
was six pence a pound. They bought
their -four by the sixpennyworths, and
their Goals in small quantities for eighteen
pence each week during the winter, so
that their fires must have been principally
kept agoing with wood. Once a month
the washer woman was called in, and the
bag things, such as the sheets, were wash
ed Therefore the ordinary washing was
all done at home. Raisins and Currants
were sold at two pence a pound, while the
weekly expenditure on eggs, nutmegs,
ginger, mace, rice, suet, etc, proClaIms
the pudding, This was made in fifty
different ways, but thu ingredients were
always the same, and in this family they
evidently had pudding every day. Cakes
also they had, and pies, both fruit pies
ana meat pies, and open tarts These
were all sent to the bakehOuse to be
baked, at a penny each, 50 that the
kitchen contained no oven. Candles were
five pence a pound, but the entries Of
candles are 50 irregular that one suspects
| the accounts to be imperfect. Rerrings
We're bought nearly every week, and
sometimes ling-''a pole Of ling" Bacon
| was seven pence a pound. Rice was also
seven pence a pound Oranges came in
about December; cherries in their season
were two pence a pound; gooseberries,
four pence. " Very little milk is bought
| Sometimes for many months there is nc
mention Of milk This may have been
because their own dairy supplied them.
| Perhaps, however, milk was only occasion
ally used In the house. The food Of very
young children-infant8 after they were
weaned-was not then milk, but pap,
which | suppose to have been some con
lection Of -four and sugar There is nc
mention at all of tea, coffee, or chocolate
Tea vas already fashionable drink, but
at this time it was sixty shillings pound
a price which placed il quite beyond the
reach of the ordinary household. Coffee
was much cheaper the cotfee-houses il
was sold at penny Cup-but it had not
yet got into private houses.
| Turning to other things besides food
| Schooling for e. J." was two pence I
week The boys hornbook cost two peDc9
and his primer four pence. His onUe;
were one shilling and nine pence the pair
! The cobbler who made them was Goodman
Archer; G0ody Archer was his wife.
letter cost two pence or four pence; every
! thing bought or ordered was brought by
the carrier, which greatly increased th'
| expense. A lady S gloves cost two shil
lings a pair; her silk stockings ter
shiling7, and her ordinary stockings SIX
shlIbngs pair; her shoes thee shIlinQs
her mask, one shilling her patens, fol
! muddy weather, were two shIllIngs
pair; her knitting needles cost a penn
apiece; her steel bodkin, two pence; he
needles, eight pence the half-hundred; hel
pins, nine pence thousand; her ribbon
| three pence a ward As for the little
things required f IT the house, they werC
! far dearer than now, considering espec ally
! the value of money. For instance, MOI
cost a shilling; a pitcher, FIVE pence
glasses, one shilling and eight pence e 4ch
an earthen- ware pan, four pence; a broom
six pence; mustard pot, one shilling anc
six pence; paddock, ten pence; mouse
trap, ten pence. Eleven shillings were
given for pair of candlesticks; it is no
stated of what metal Holland was two
shilllngs a yard a "newsbook" cost &
penny. On one occasion only it is recorded
that they bought book-only one book,
and il was SO expensive that they coulc
never afford to buy another. Here is tht
entry: Paid a gentleman for boob
G3 10 o." What book, Que asks il
wonder, could be worth seventy shilling
in the year 1878 to man who wa:
neither scholar nor a collector ?--Waj.
ter Besant, in Harper's Magazine fol
January