Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-12-17

Studying the files Of The Star
one is struck with the fact that food
as they are now, in many instance.
but here are the figures:
A well known chain OF markets
still one of our most outstanding
was advertising mixed nuts at 81
cents per pound in 1917. To-day
they are less, only 81 cents. Coffee
then at % cents, averages about
that now, depending on which OF
several brands you select. Wiscon-
sin cheese, to eat with your apple
pie, was almost exactly what it is
today. Condensed soups sold at II
cents a can-two cans of the same
brand today may be bought for q
cents. Shortening was higher then
the same that can be bought now
for 10 cents, was costing a cents
Butter was the same almost to the
penny, Florida oranges sold from Is
to IS cents dozen-average price
today. IS cents. Grapefruit were
for a quarter-same in December,
1912. A quarter Of a peck of apples
cost IS cents, the same amount to-
day costs two cents more.
The margarine situation is the
most remarkable of all. In Deem
Der. 1917, margarine of a rather
poor quality. lacking in most of the
essential food values that made but
ter so important, was selling as high
as 80 cents pound. Now margarine
may be bought as low as two pounds
for 80 cents. with better grades a
very little more. And this margarine
is so reinforced with vitamins that
to all intents and purposes of nour-
ishment 1t replaces butter most
adequately.
Cranberries for Christmas, 1917
were only II cents a pound, and if
you shopped late Christmas eve,
they were practically given away.
Today they rate % cents a pound.
on an average, and there isn't any
giving away late in the day about it.
This was a good old custom, that
has long since vanished, with ade-
quate storage facilities and a con-
sumner public that doesn't conf1ne
holiday foods entirely to holiday
menus. On that Christmas eve,
plump and beautiful turkeys that
started the day priced at 40 to so
cents per pound, were reduced for
last minute clearance to as little as
26 to Is cents a pound. Nothing of
the sort will happen this year!
Prices will probably be higher than
the top price asked then, and there
won't be last minute reductions, we
are assured. No one will predict
this early Just what the price of
turkeys will be-but it is fair guess
that they will be as high as they
were at Thanksgiving, and prob
ably bit higher.
Dealers in specially shops and
markets, that handle unusually
fine and expensive grades of tur-
keys, recall asking as high as dol
larS pound for the hirds-and
getting tin 1917. No such extreme
is expected this year, however. Tur-
keysare apt to be just-as~lnuch in
demand, as they were the other
wartime holiday. because now, as
then, families whose boys have gone
to war will fill their empty chairs
with their mates in the armed serv-
ices, and so help to spread the
Christmas cheer that is Americas
great tradition.
According to an article in those
back issues of The Star, Christmas
dinner could be served to six for a
total cost trimmings, staples. and
alb Of SAT. This included oyster
cocktail, roast turkey, potatoes,
creamed onions, bread and a con-
coction called Norwegian pudding.
Now let's take look at the pic
ture for 1912. You can serve six
for almost the same price-but
you'll have to change your menu a
bit. oysters in bulk are out of the
question on such a budget-they are
selling for 80 to 80 cents a quart
now, and may go as high as dollar
a quart for the best quality. But
you could have soup for about 1923
cents, an 8-pound turkey at an
average price of As cents per pound
for $3.75, string beans for 30 cents,
potatoes for Is cents and plum
pudding for rs cents. If you add
cranberry relish made with fresh
cranberries and oranges. or glassed
or timed cranberry sauce for about
rs cents each, your dinner would
total about $4.95. In other words,
Christmas dinner, 1912, would cost
about 48 cents more than did
Christmas dinner 1917-and better
balanced menu, too. OF course, as
we said. we can't tell yet about the
turkey prices-but If they soar too
much you can substitute a nice fat
goose, selling for considerably less,
or plump roasting chicken.
Those Of us who can remember
the days of World War I, can re-
call instances of prices that were
way ahead of these we have
quoted from the past. Most OF
these, however, came after that
first Christmas, and proceeded on
their way to the top from then
on. Dry Government charts and
booklets giving comparative fig
ures and statistics indicate that
for the first part of World War
II the rise in the cost Of foods was
very much the same as that ex-
perienced in the first months of
World War I. Later the picture
changed. and prices began rising