What A Buck Used to Get Us
by Tyler Woods on May. 11, 2011, under Life
Recently I took a little spill out of the car, twisting my knee thinking it would heal. I soon discovered that is was more than a twist and I find myself preparing for surgery on my knee in a few days. I am a little bummed, but I have good insurance. I pay quite a bit monthly to have good insurance; still, my phone keeps ringing with friendly people on the other end wanting to be paid up front for all the out of pocket expenses. Thus far it is costing me about $2,000 and that is with good insurance, and though I am grateful for my insurance, it got me thinking…
Things sure have changed over the years with prices. I don’t need to tell you that, we all feel the pinch, but here is a friendly reminder that back in the 60s we had it made better than we thought we did. Today what cost $100.00 in 1960 will now cost you $730. Not a pretty sight is it?
Indeed, how we long for the simple times when life seemed easier and certainly more affordable. Let’s face it a buck got us a lot more in the 60s than it ever could today. In the early 60s a buck could get you about three gallons of gas. Chances are the gas was a much better grade that you could put in your brand new car that set you back about $2,000.
In 1963 you could send about 16 letters or bills out because stamps were all of six cents. Today I do everything I possibly can online because quite frankly I would rather not pay the price for the stamp! Paying online is free and no hassles.
In the early 60s a buck got you a lot, why you could get a complete meal including dessert at a fast food joint. You could get a double decker burger, a large coke, French fries and ice cream or pie to top off that meal. Today a buck gets you a wrinkled burger with a patty that is as thin as a dime.
A buck got you a great deal of toiletries as well. You could get shaving cream for about 60 cents, toothpaste was about 55 cents, hair spray averaged 50 cents, a generic package of cold tablets cost about 60 cents, and cough drops were three packs for a quarter.
A meal for four could be made for a buck since food prices were so cheap. A dozen of eggs were under 50 cents, so was a gallon of milk. A loaf of bread was about 20 cents. That is a breakfast for a lot of people for about 1.20.
You could really snack out too. For a buck you could get 10 candy bars, 5 couple of cokes, 5 ice-cream bars, and ten packs of gum. That’s because each item was only 5 cents. If that wasn’t enough to snack you way to oblivion, you could get tips for a buck because a six pack of beer was about 99 cents.
Indeed a dollar used to go a long way. Doctors cost hundreds of dollars for a en minute visit, cars take 40 bucks or more to fill them up, fast food used to be considered cheap food but any longer it can cost a family of four up to 30 bucks to go through the drive thru. Times and money have changed, but many of us still have fond memories of what a buck used to get us.
