Cost of Living

Subject: Cost of Living Tue May 01, 2012 8:31 am

Cost of Living

From Friscogirl

I did some investigating to try to figure out how much things really cost in the days of our two partners. It looks like the tv writers really inflated costs...probably to make them more recognizable to us 21st century folks. But back in the 1880's a bounty of $10,000 would have been a sweet $2,million!!! Our boys couldnt' have lasted a minute! And when they complained about only having 4 dollars between them, that wasn't as bad as it sounds.

Here's some information I dug up, just for interest's sake:

A dollar in today’s value would have been almost $20/ in 1880.

Typical weekly family expenses:

1 bag of flour $1.80?Small measure of potatoes daily at .17 per day $1.19?1/4 lb of tea .38 ?1 qt milk .56?1 lb cheap coffee .35?Sugar 3 1/2 lb $1.05?1/2 ration meats per week $3.50?4 lb. butter $1.60?2 lb. lard .38?Dried apples for treats .25?Vegetables .50?Soap, starch, pepper, salt, vinegar, etc. $1.00?2 bushels of coal $1.36?Kerosene .30?Sundries .28?Rent $4.00 week??

The average wage earner only made $16.00 a week. Some trades only made two, three, four, or six dollars a week.

The men driving the horse drawn streetcars in New York in the 1880's made $1.75 a day working 14 to 16 hr. a day.

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/thro1/rickey.pdf

http://shootists.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=865322&goto=nextoldest

1. Job description: The cowhand's job description was, essentially, "whatever it takes to help the ranch make a profit." That could mean playing nursemaid to a newborn calf, training an untrained horse, mending a fence, taking a herd to market, chopping firewood, thwarting thieves, eradicating predators, grubbing out poisonous range plants, branding cattle, bringing a wag _onload of supplies from town, cleaning out water holes, putting up hay, harvesting oats, patching a leak in the bunkhouse roof, or anything else the boss needed to have done.

2. Salary: A working cowhand in the late 1800s was paid $25 to $30 a month "and found." The phrase "and found" meant he also got his meals (and a bunk when he was at the ranch headquarters.) A top hand might even get $40 a month and a foreman $50 or more. On a drive, a trail boss was sometimes paid as much as $100. For comparison, back then a typical school teacher's wage was $30 a month, and dinner in a restaurant would usually cost about 25 cents.

3. Benefits: If you're thinking of medical and dental, forget it. In the 1880s, about the only benefit a worker in any industry got was a paycheck. And at a time when the average life expectancy for men was age 34, retirement plans weren't even considered.

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From Remuda

This is very cool stuff, Frisgogirl -- Thanks for posting it!

Coincidentally, I was also researching the same type stuff yesterday and found the following link, which deals directly with inflation. Just enter the amount in dollars and the two years to compare, and it gives the amount two ways -- what the entered amount is worth in the year chosen, and what products bought in the later year would cost in the earlier year. Pretty neat!

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

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From Frankie ASJ

I always thought the amounts in ASJ sounded a little generous! Saying that, did you know that Pony Express riders were paid $25 a week? That was a pretty good wage back in the 1860s, even if it was a hard and dangerous job.

Thanks for the links Frico and Remuda - very useful stuff.

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From RosieAnnie

This is very interesting stuff. The life expectancy bit is pretty startling, to those of us blessed with antibiotics. We tend to forget how easily an infection could kill someone. And antibiotics were still very rare, and very expensive, in 1940.

One of the recent Disunion articles in the New York Times discussed how many millions - yes, millions - were made by purveyors who cheated the US Gov't during the Civil War. Brooks Brothers got its start making uniforms that fell apart in rainstorms, and the real-life Brooks Brothers became filthy rich. I mention this only because it shows that there were millionaires in the East as far back as the 1860's, so there must also be some very rich people in the West. Maybe a Big Mac really could have a poker game with a $10,000 buy-in.

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From GiddyUp

Thanks for posting! Very interesting!

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From Frisgogirl

Remuda: What a fun little calculator! That makes sense, when you figure the boys put down a dime for a beer...and that would make it about $2.40 for a beer today. (actually a pretty good deal!)

And imagine...that $400 bonus on the cattle drive episode where Curry was suspected of murder...wow, almost $10,000. No wonder the boys signed on!

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From GiddyUp

I'm not sure I understand what price goes where in your post. Could you perhaps do a list or something? It would be appreciated.

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From silverkelpie

Friscogirl and Remuda -

These links are really interesting and fun. Thanks for posting them.

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"Do you ever get the feeling that nothing right is ever going to happen to us again?" - Kid Curry

Subject: Re: Cost of Living Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:10 pm

Wow! Those links are very helpful! I especially needed that calculator. Very Happy

Thanks!

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John Denver 12/31/43 - 10/12/97 RIP
Happy 70th, John!

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