Memorable Prices

[HustleBaby]

I remember back in the 70's, inflation was a major problem. Compare to today 2001 every

thing from food to subway tokens was pretty cheap. Do you remember the prices of everyday

items back in the 70's such as:

1.Gas

2.Coca-Cola

3.Cigarettes

4.Subway Token

5.Movie theatre/Broadway tickets

6.Cologne/Perfume

7.Dress Shoes

8.Cup of coffee

9.12" Television/8 Track Player

10.Postal stamps

11.Dungarees

12.Bridge tolls

13.Newspaper

14.Discotheque admission

15.Albums

and so on.....

How much did you pay for these items back then?

[paul]

[quote]

On 2001-10-22 18:17, HustleBaby wrote:

I remember back in the 70's, inflation was a major problem. Compare to today 2001 every

thing from food to subway tokens was pretty cheap. Do you remember the prices of everyday

items back in the 70's such as:

1.Gas

2.Coca-Cola

3.Cigarettes

4.Subway Token

5.Movie theatre/Broadway tickets

6.Cologne/Perfume

7.Dress Shoes

8.Cup of coffee

9.12" Television/8 Track Player

10.Postal stamps

11.Dungarees

12.Bridge tolls

13.Newspaper

14.Discotheque admission

15.Albums

and so on.....

How much did you pay for these items back then?



1.Gas: 35 cents/gallon

2.Coca-Cola: 12 oz can 35 cents I think

3.Cigarettes: Didn't smoke (cigarettes anyway)

4.Subway Token: 25 cents

5.Movie theatre/Broadway tickets: $4 reg movie admission price

6.Cologne/Perfume: Paul Sebastion $15

7.Dress Shoes: ~$40

8.Cup of coffee: 25 CENTS

9.12" Television/8 Track Player: $80/$50

10.Postal stamps: 16 CENTS I THINK

11.Dungarees: $25

12.Bridge tolls: 25 cents

13.Newspaper: 25 cents

14.Discotheque admission: $3-$5

15.Albums: $7

[BrunoRepublic]

On 2001-10-22 19:15, paul wrote:



1.Gas: 35 cents/gallon

Those days are gone forever

2.Coca-Cola: 12 oz can 35 cents I think

I don't know about the USA, but in Canada, pop is cheaper in real terms now than anytime I can remember. In the 80s, the cheapest you could ever get a case of brand-name pop was $4.99 for a pack of 24. Today you can still get them for $5.99 -- and when you factor that Ontario switched from rip-off 280mL cans to the standard 355mL cans around 1990, we're getting a sweet deal.

3.Cigarettes: Didn't smoke (cigarettes anyway)

These took a major price cut here a few years ago due to a major tax reduction to prevent smuggling... but I think they've been creeping up since (I don't smoke either).

4.Subway Token: 25 cents

These have gone up, up, up... from 50¢ to $2.25 today. Ouch.

5.Movie theatre/Broadway tickets: $4 reg movie admission price

One thing they've succeeded in doing is knocking down all the older theatres and building mega "entertainment complexes" where they think they can justify $12 admission.

6.Cologne/Perfume: Paul Sebastion $15

Never been much into this; sorry.

7.Dress Shoes: ~$40

Remember when running shoes were cheap, and dress shoes were expensive? Can you imagine trying to tell someone in 1977 that people would someday shell out $200 for sneakers?

8.Cup of coffee: 25 CENTS

Some friends of mine refer to a certain global coffee chain as "Fivebucks" -- for the average price of anything there

9.12" Television/8 Track Player: $80/$50

Small TVs are less expensive now in real terms. Actually, the same is true of most audio/video equipment (albeit they are not built up to the same standards). Walkmans were bulky and cost over $200 when they first appeared... now you can get Discmans with anti-skip for less that $50...

10.Postal stamps: 16 CENTS I THINK

Things got nasty with Canada Post around 1980 or so, when the rate jumped from 17¢ to 30¢. They hadn't decided how high the increase would be but knew there was one coming, so they printed off a whole slew of stamps that just said A instead of the value. Since then, things have been steadily creeping up to 47¢ today. But postage in Canada and the US is actually a lot cheaper than in many parts of the world -- if you've ever ordered anything to be shipped from Germany, you know exactly what I'm talking about!

11.Dungarees: $25

You can still get them for about that amount at Wal-Mart

12.Bridge tolls: 25 cents

Oh, if only.

13.Newspaper: 25 cents

50¢ here now, not too bad all things considered... plus we have free mini-newspapers as well...

14.Discotheque admission: $3-$5

Very few clubs here charge cover... and those that do are usually less than $10... mind you, there aren't any places that I'd be willing to pay to get into, so it's a moot point.

15.Albums: $7

Hey, the $15 that we pay for CDs pales in comparison to most of the world. CDs are on average $30 or more in most of Europe. Yikes!

[HustleBaby]

Speaking of coffee, I remember back in the days when we used to have Chock Full of Nuts

coffee shops all over the city. Now we have

Starbucks and coffee could range from $1.35

to $2.50 especially for a cappucino.



Graham your absolutely right! I never thought

in my wildest dreams that people would pay

$200.00 for sneakers. In the 70's, anyone could've purchase a pair of Converse or Pro-Keds for dirt cheap! We also had Florsheim

Shoe Stores for Men throught NYC. My father

and uncles used to buy all their dress shoes

from there.



DELIGHTFUL

[kelvy]

On 2001-10-23 19:17, HustleBaby wrote:

Speaking of coffee, I remember back in the days when we used to have Chock Full of Nuts

coffee shops all over the city.

"chock full of nuts is that heaaaaavenly coffee, that heaaaaavenly coffee..."



i had to insert that old jingle in there!

[Bernie]

Here's what I can remember all in US$:

1.Gas = $0.35

2.Coca-Cola = $0.25 Dad's Root Beer

3.Cigarettes = Don't smoke

4.Subway Token = $0.50 for New York City subway and $0.30 for PATH trains from Jersey to NYC

5.Movie theatre = $4.00

6.Cologne/Perfume = Body sweat is free, but I think I recall Old Spice/Musk for $2.00

7.Dress Shoes = $30.00

8.Cup of coffee = Didn't drink coffee back then

9.12" Television/ = $125.00 8 Track Player = $50.00

10.Postal stamps = $0.08

11.Dungarees = $30.00 for Jordache Jeans

12.Bridge tolls = $1.00 round trip for the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels to New York City

13.Newspaper = $0.10 weekdays; $0.25 Sunday edition

14.Discotheque admission = $5.00+

15.Albums = $4.99 Domestic 12" Singles = $2.77; Import 12" singles = $3.99-4.99

and so on.....



Slice of pizza $0.25

Bazooka bubblegum = $0.01 that's a whopping penny!

Candy bar = $0.17

White Castle hamburger = $0.16 Used to buy a burger and chocolate shake for only .51 cents!

Mister Softee ice cream cone = $0.25

Pay phone = $0.10

Bus fare = $0.25

Pretzel = $0.05



Oh, I feel so old and now sound like my parents: " I remember when..."

[HustleBaby]

Wow Bernie,you brought back memories! I

remember Mr.Softee was 25-50 cents and Good

Humor was slightly higher. There was the

"Coquito Man" who would push his little white cart around and sell coconut ices for

10 cents. Plus there was another man that used to wheel around his red cart and sell

HUGE ices that was scraped from a massive

block of ice. We had a choice of cherry,

grape, orange etc..served in a paper cone for 15-25 cents.



When you mentioned Old Spice, I thought about my father. He used to wear that and

Brut like it was his second skin. I prefer

the scent of Old Spice over Brut any day.

Do you remember the Brut commercials with Joe

Namath?



Disco Delight

[Outsider]

On 2001-10-22 20:13, Graham Start wrote:



One thing they've succeeded in doing is knocking down all the older theatres and building mega "entertainment complexes" where they think they can justify $12 admission.

I think that sucks bigtime. I remember when admission was $4.50 for two movies. What sucks even more is the demise of drive-in theatres. Now those were the places to see movies. I really miss them a lot.

[paul]

On 2001-10-25 17:33, Outsider wrote:

On 2001-10-22 20:13, Graham Start wrote:



One thing they've succeeded in doing is knocking down all the older theatres and building mega "entertainment complexes" where they think they can justify $12 admission.

I think that sucks bigtime. I remember when admission was $4.50 for two movies. What sucks even more is the demise of drive-in theatres. Now those were the places to see movies. I really miss them a lot.

I miss the drive-ins too. It made it more than just going to the movies. Ok, you could make out but hey, what's wrong with that. The last time I went was to see Foxy Brown.

[Leanmean]

Cigarettes: 75 cents a pack at the stores; $1.00 in the machines at the bar! Ripoffs!



Glad I quit smoking because I'd hate to pay what they cost today:$3.00/pack.



St. Pauli Girl: $2.99/6-pack (import)



Ounce: $25.00 - $30.00 if it was sensimilia/$20 if it was good Colombian or Panama Red/ $15 if it was homegrown, dirtweed or Mexican/$5 nickle bag. Remember matchboxes for $5?

Hash: $25/gram

Black beauties: 75 cents a piece

White cross: 4 for $1.00

Quaaludes: $1.00 each

Acid: $2.00 - 4.00 depending on how many hits to a tab or blotter.

Reds: 50 cents each

Yellow Jackets (nembutals): 3 for $1.00

Amyl Nitrate: $1.50 ampule

Coke: free to me!

[paul]

On 2001-10-29 10:02, Leanmean wrote:

Cigarettes: 75 cents a pack at the stores; $1.00 in the machines at the bar! Ripoffs!



Glad I quit smoking because I'd hate to pay what they cost today:$3.00/pack.



St. Pauli Girl: $2.99/6-pack (import)



Ounce: $25.00 - $30.00 if it was sensimilia/$20 if it was good Colombian or Panama Red/ $15 if it was homegrown, dirtweed or Mexican/$5 nickle bag. Remember matchboxes for $5?

Hash: $25/gram

Black beauties: 75 cents a piece

White cross: 4 for $1.00

Quaaludes: $1.00 each

Acid: $2.00 - 4.00 depending on how many hits to a tab or blotter.

Reds: 50 cents each

Yellow Jackets (nembutals): 3 for $1.00

Amyl Nitrate: $1.50 ampule

Coke: free to me!

Ah Lean. A woman with the ovarian fortitude willing to get to the real deal

I remember $10 for a dime bag and we're talking a lot of weed that filled to the max an entire Glad sandwich bag and was decent. The best was some Nigerian stuff that was $20 for a "dime bag." Whew, that was awesome stuff. One toke and were laughing and ready for an orgy.

I always preferred hash because it was so smooth but I don't remember paying for it.

Richard's Wild Irish Rose - $2.49

Thunderbird's - $1.99

Old English Tall Boy - $1.25

[HustleBaby]

LeanMean

I've heard of all kinds of "pharmaceuticals"

but I've NEVER heard of :

1.white cross

2.reds

3.yellow jackets(nembutals)

4.amyl nitrate (sounds like something you would find in a laboratory/floor cleaner)

What are they?



Back in the 70's, I also remember older people going to smoke shops and purchasing

Indian pipes and spanish fly. Customers

had a variety of pipe choices to pick from

the window display- glass or wood.

[Leanmean]

HustleBaby,



These were all prescription drugs that somehow my friends got ahold of.

white cross = speed/ white tabs with a cross

Later, we could get all the fake speed we wanted through mail order. It was caffein-based: pink footballs, white cross, black beauties, etc.

reds = downs/red capsules

yellow jackets(nembutals) = downs/balck & yellow capsules

amyl nitrate = poppers (this was in a glass vial covered with cotton and yellow netting.) You snapped it open and inhaled deeply. It smelled like overripe bananas. We kept it in the freezer. Actually, we called it Amy in 1971. I did not hear it called "poppers" until several years later at the gay bar. A different form of it (butyl nitrate) was later sold at the bar over-the-counter. By that time, you no longer broke the ampule (vial) you just unscrewed the top and sniffed! I hated that kind because it smelled like dirty gym socks and I lost the dance beat if I sniffed it on the dance floor. Invariably, someone would shove it under my nose as I danced. At that very moment, I felt stupid dancing so I got off the dance floor until the rush was over. Not fun to me, but everyone else, especially the gay boys loved its effect. They liked to sniff it just prior to the big "O" to enhance it. It never did that for me. Kind of like trying to have sex on acid. It just made me laugh or grossed me out! Now, sex on quaaludes was something else! Whew!!!!