The independent-reporter., 1910-11-24
COST OF LIVING
YEARS AGO
Contrasted With That
of the Present Day
Luxuries Forty Years Ago Are Neces'
stiles Today.

Public opinion Is divided, some peo-
pie attributing the present cost OF
living to the trusts and the tariff;
others largely to advanced standards
Of living. / am one of the latter. and
to prove my point will take the cases
of a father and son with whom l am
familiar. The comparison will be the
fathers manner of living 80 or 40
years ago and the sons today. | will
add that the son lives In modest, un-
assuming way, his wife doing her own
work, except that a woman goes to
the home to do the washing and to
help about the sweeping.
To begin, | will mention some prices
in 1866 taken from the account book
of Dover man: Flour, s10.75 bbl.;
crackers, Is cts. lb.; cassia, $1.10 h.;
molasses, rs cts. and $1.25 GAL; vine
gar. so cts. gal. benzine, so cts. gal;
butter dn Noyember) 40 cts. lb.;
kerosene, $1.O0 gal; bar soap. II cts.
lb: Goldfish (whole) 10 cts. lb.; eat
ing apples, (December) $500 bush;
cooking apples, $1.00 BUSH; raisins,
% cts. lb. In January, 1856 fresh beer
for mince pies was 6 cts. lb.; fresh
pork, Is cts; salt pork, ~ cts. In
March a corn broom was charged at
56 cts; dried apples, 19 cts; white
sugar, q cts. Maple syrup sold for
$3.50 and there is an entry of $1.5O a
day paid for saving wood which
shows that wages were not high.
From another source l get the fol-
lowing prices for 1870: Flour, $3.50;
tea, $1.1O; molasses. rs cts; kero-
sene. so cts; sugar, 6 lbs. for $1.00;
lard, "a cts; print cloth, IA cts.; rice,
"a cts; dried apple, 16 2-3 cts; cream
tartar, Is cts IA lb.; raisins, 20 cts;
cheese. "a cts; butter, 40 cts; bar
soap, II and 15 cts.
These prices give an idea Of what
the father had to pay for the necessl-
ties of life and now l will come to
comparative manner of living.
1t was the fathers custom In the
fall to buy fore and hind quarter OF
beef. have 1t cut in suitable pieces,
packed In barrels and stored in a
back chamber to be kept frozen. BY
this method he got the different parts
of the animal at wholesale. The meat
might have been tough, but there was
no complaint, for western beef had
never been used in the family and
nothing better than native was known.
The son, however, buys his beef as
he needs 1t, for there would be COM
plant If it were served more than two
days in succession, and by this meth
cd he has to pay a relatively higher
price.
The fathers family consumed
large amount of molasses ginger
bread and cookies, but they become
stale In the sons family for cake Is
none too good.
Bananas were unknown In the faith
er's family and oranges and lemons
were something to be used only on
special (and rare) occasions. In the
sons home oranges, lemons and ba-
nanas are 80 common that they fire.
quently spoil. Confectionery was al
30 very rare in the fathers home but
is very common In the sons.
During the winter 1t was only ne
cessary to keep one or two rooms in
the fathers home warm all the time,
but the entire lower part of the sons
house must be kept warm and II there
was a spot In the building where meat
could be kept frozen the heating plant
would be thrown out as defective.
Not only does modern heating Of
houses require more fuel than did
that of 40 years ago but there Is an
additional expense to keep roofs
from leaking because OF water back
ing up from the caves.
The father was at no expense to fit
up a bathroom but the son had to-
make an investment of $3.50 to get
one.
Although kerosene was high 40
years ago, the cost of light was not
great because a family was content
to have but one or two rooms lighted
at the same time. Today, where
electric lights can be had, the house
must be very generally lighted at a
large increase of expense over the old
custom.
When the father wanted to COM
municate with a neighbor he sent one
Of the children with note or went
himself The son cannot be put to
80 much trouble, so has telephone
and increaes the cost of living that
much.
The father contributed his share to-
wards the support of his church,
probably not more than 500 year.
The son is fortunate If he gets out Of
It for five times that amount and the
various benevolent institutions that
have come to the front within 40
years probably demand much more.
The father paid $50 for a melodeon
for his daughter and 1t was about the
limit In those days but the son did not
a $3.50 piano too good for his
son and that had to be supplemented
with a Victor Talking machine.
l doubt II the father had baby
carriage for his children, but the son
was not satisfied with anything less
than a $25 outfit for his baby.
When the son was a child his cart
was made of box ON trucks sawed
from round stick of cordwood, but
his son had a cart and wheelbarrow.
costing several dollars, and later had
$50 worth of bicycles.