Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-01-17
CIVIL WAR FOOD
PRICES WERE NOT
AS HIGH. AS TODAY
New York. Times.N

The high cost Of living during the
civil war and the Inconvenience and
suffering which followed have re-
manned for half a century the stand
ard for all comparisons. The prices
demanded. especially in 1869. were
thought to be beyond all reason. Poor
people. even those in moderate cir,
cumstances. often found them pro-
hibitive. A violent protest followed,
n strikes and meetings be-
came common throughout the coun-
try. In every city parades were or
ganized to demand lower prices and
high wages. The social unrest was
far more serious than any we know
today. .' q
With the present cost of living in
mind. the records OF food prices dur
reading. Prices rose steadily from
1861 to 1863, and the level reached
in the third year of the war was the
high-water mark. The increase for
the period varied from 60 to Is per
cent. and in some instances 100 per
cent. At the beginning Of the war
eggs sold for IS cents a dozen. anc
in 1863 at 25 cents. Cheese rose from
8 to 1S cents a pound: A bushel OF
three years later for $2.25. a price
scarcely exceeded today. One of the
chief sources Of complaint was the
cost Of sugar, which rose to ~ or IL
cents a pound. One of the c%uriosities
of the list was the price of butter
which for a long time hung around
80 cents a pound. Cotton sold at one
time for 81 a yard.
The saloons felt the pinch also ir
1868. A meeting of saloon owner.
was held in New York to conside,
the problem, and in the face of 4
great public opposition the price of 8
drink of liquor was raised from 6 t.
10 cents. The best hotels raised theil
rates to $3.50 and later to SO a daS
and charged extra, for neat and light
The rate included a room and three
ed 10 cents for shaving and 20 cent:
for a hair cut. Ice was considered
great luxury and was supplied at the
rate Of so cents a. week for a supply
of ten pounds a day.
The average cost of foods, it is seen
was we'll below the prices of today
The explanation Of the violent protest:
however, in the comparatively Low
wages paid in the trades and profes'
sions. Banners borne in a parade II
New York demanded a wage Of Sill:
a day. The average rate for com
mon labor ross as high as $1.25 fol
q days work. Even the Skilled work
men Jared little better. The wages
of blacksmiths rose from $1.75 to $:
a day, while the b~ricklayers in 1856;
received 50 a day instead of $1.25, a
at the beginning Of the a =
skilled painter received $1.75 a day
%joiners and shipbuilders 50, quarry
men SLIP. Coachmen were paid So
a month and walters from $12 to 81;
> a month.
l The prices Of food and clothin.
reached far greater heights in tn
: south. In a diary kept by Mrs. JET
: ferson Davis it : is recorded that II
1852, in Richmond, mutton sold to
81 cents Il pound, potatoes for Sc
: bushel. tea for IS a pound, flour a
$500 a barrel, and turkey brough
: $50. A pair of boots cost s25. Man,
of these prices were due to specula
ton in food. At m time beef sol,
t for IS a pound and flour for $1,00
a barrel.
g These extraordinary prices, howev
err, were fictitious. 1t made all tn
difference in the world whether tn
S bills were paid in gold or in Con
federate money. At this time an Eng
: lishman wrote from Charleston tina
he had never lived so we'll and S
8 cheaply. The regular hotel rates j
e paper money were $50 a day. bu
> they cost the Englishman u thre
shillings a day. The bill was paid !
gold. No..