Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-01
the GOOD OLD DAYS
When Pork Chops Were Seven Cents
. Pound and Coal $3.50 . Ton.
A Comparison Of PrIees-Hew
Postwar Prices Jumped
In Psrlo
BY GEORGE NOx MCCAIN

years.
Every war has been accompanied BY q
period of imitation, followed by a time Of
depression.
Following the Spanish American War
and It is the latest concrete example-7OO,.
600 railroad men had their wages increased
~ per cent because Of the increased cost OF
living. Not all railroads gave the advance.
At the same time the wages in many other
callings were not raised.
The high prices brought about by the 90.
called EZRA of prosperity" following the war
with Spain worked to the disadvantage Of
hundreds Of thousands of mechanics.
The situation was not so disastrous as
during the last few years. however.
The purchasing power of the dollar dropped
In l0lo to something like ne-half.
In 1OO2, to equal the purchasing power
OF dollar In years previous, $1.24 was re.
quired.
LIVERY post war condition Of 1919 to
- 1922 had Its prototype from 1907 to
Food clothing and articles Of household
furniture were higher then.
Wages had risen. then fallen, and hours
OF work were shortened as a result Of agi-
tation.
Investigation disclosed that the wage
Garner was not nearly so well off as he was
In the years preceding the war.
However, the advance in wages during
80" hoAo"ihB tuc NOTlu w Ut WIS muCn
greater than was the case following the
Spanish American War.
A COMPARISON Of figures seems almost
L ridiculous. One may we'll pray for a
return IN prices-to the Spanish American
days.
Here are a few Of the figures:
-, In 1897, Immediately preceding the war,
the average of house rent was $12 per
month.
In 1909 1t had lcaped to ST..
The rent profitecr then gained his first
into the limelight ever since.
A VERAGE board for workman or clerk
"A in 1897 was $3.50 as against SO in 1902.
Coal was $3.50 ton until the coal
barons, seeing their opportunity, lcaped the
1t is worth while noting that It was the
aftermath Of the Spanish American War
that first sent the coal proitecr on the war
path.
lie has been on it ever since and always
ana :. ever learning new tricks of price,
initiation.
Mems suits leapcd from S12 to $15, and
their derby hats from S1.5O to So.
Women's cloth skirts from 81 TO 50 30
and shoes from S1.5O to So
1t seems almost uncomfortable. but n
three. piece average bedroom suite could
All-wool blankets rose from So. .0S to IS.
1NHE elderly housewife who wonders 'if
L we will ever get back to the good old
days. might consult these figures and find
out just how far back she must 20 to reach
the prices of "the good old days"
In 1897 porterhouse steak was retailed
at eighteen cents. The war whooped It to
twenty five cents by 1902.
Konst beef advanced from fifteen TO
twenty five cents per pound
Mutton chops Mt nine cents, lamb Mt
eleven ana pork at seven cents ran up in
1902 to fourteen cents. sixteen cents and
eleven cents. respectively.
bacon went from nine to fourteen cents.
butter from twenty to twenty five cents,
eggs from twelve to thirty five cents, while
canned goods advanced on nm average Of
33 3 pcr cent.
1t Is but fair to say that the prices quoted
as or 1897 were. according to Government
and other stntisticians. the lowest in n
PERIOD pcrn OF fourteen years, beginning with
An INTERESTING comparison is that
a Of the costs Of living in PHILADELPHIA in
1920 with those of Paris.
Of course. Paris was the storm center of
the entire economic system Of Europe-on
the Allies side. y"
In this comparison the nrices of commo.
u
the World War. are given as in the instance
of our Spanish War.
Eggs in 1914 sold Mt two and one.bnIf
cents each, but commanded thirteen cents
in 1920, @"''
Coffee per kilo in 1914 ,wos seventr.s,r
cents: in 1920 it sold for $500.
Butter rose from thirty -eight cents per
cents to 1929. '"'f'' 'S'A
Bread. milk and rice treblcd in price,
sugar and salt five times.
NLOTHING showed the greatest advance.
~ a mans suit that prior to the war
sold for $3.50 went to $50.
Womcn's tailor made suits from S34 n
$l40. Madam's shoes from So. 90 to S425O,
Mems wear advanced between 1914 and
1920 after this fashion: Socks, fifty.fye
cents to s.: silk hats, $5 to $50; felt hats.
81 80 to S1j. 'N'''
Electricity for household and Industrial
use doubled in cost.
Gas per 1000 feet Just treblcd.
and q half times. WV
Telephone subscriptions doubled. News.
paper print paper rose from 81 per 100 kilos
to S3o.5O. while omnibus fares the great
popular transportation system of the boule.
wards, rose two and half times.
DRlCES OF commodities have declined in
L this country ns well as in France from
the figures quoted above.
1t is still n long. long trail that must he
travcrsed back to the good old DAYS.
1t took ten years for prices in this countrv
10 get back, after the Spanish War, to any.
thing like what they were prior to that event
Indeed. for the most part, they never eot
back. Coal. for instance. eN'
Under present economic conditions r. "a
unlikely that this country will ever see the
rock bottom prices Of 1887. Wv
We may approximate them In morv
things, but not all.
The good old times" like the days Of tbe
Conestoga wagon. the flint lock- the hand
loom and the canal, seem to have gone as
Jim Fisk used to say, "Where the woodbine
twineth."