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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-06-28, Page 120SHOE AND DOCTOR'S OFFICE — The store in the picture above is the same one where Dr. Fletcher's office is now. The picture was taken in the late 1890's or early 1900's. At this time, the left side was Dr. Hynd- man's office and the right side was a boot and shoe store owned by Herb Walter's father. It has since been remodelled with a new brick front and Dr. Fletcher's office occupies the whole building. Left to right in front of the store are W. J. Carling, Dr. Hugh Hyndman and A. Walters. Now look! You'll find the Grigg family history elsewhere in this issue. Who knows, they may even print some of ours in the next centennial issue!, MacMillan's Stationery and Gifts For Every Occasion EXETER Torn and Del MacMillan, Marg Murky, Jane Condon and Cathy Holtzman Section 1, Page 32 THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE JUNE 28, 1973 We've made a few changes . . . but never lost sight of the original goal to provide a complete line of stationery and gifts. Prices of 1939 looked good in '51 MARCH 8, 1951 When it comes to paying for the weekly food bill, the lowly dollar makes about as much impression as a falling cabbage leaf on a steer's back. A comparison of Exeter merchant's advertising between 1939 and today makes fairy-tale reading for the economical housewife. From the prices in those ad- vertisements, a local family of four in 1939 was able to live well on a food budget of $12 a week. The same menus today will run $22 if the housewife is to feed her family as well as she did in 1939. And a few months from now that $22 figure will probably be obsolete if prices rise like they have in January and February. The official cost-of-living index increased by 2.7 points in January to reach a record 172-5 and wholesale prices showed even higher trends for February. Meat is the food which has risen most sharply in price. Twelve years ago, a prime rib roast was 25 cents a pound. Monday, prime rib roasts were featured in local butcher shops at 89 cents a pound, 64 cents more than in 1939. If Mrs. South Huron spent $2.95 on her weekly meat budget in 1939 she could treat her family to a five-pound rib roast for $1; half a pound of side bacon at 20 cents; a boiling fowl weighing five pounds for $1; a pound of fillet of haddock for 49 cents and a pound of sausage for 21 cents. This same meat budget today would have cost Mrs. South Huron $8.32 according to local prices. Canned goods are another item to hack a substantial slice out of milady's take-home change. Food ads in the Times-Advocate in 1939 show pork and beans selling for three for 25 cents. Now it's two for the quarter. For a 17 ounce tin of canned peas, Mrs. Huron paid 12 cents. Today its 18 cents for a 15 ounce can. Want some more? Canned soup two for 15, now two for 25, half- pound pink salmon 16, now 25; etc. etc. California oranges were 20 and 25 cents a dozen for medium and large sizes. If Mrs. South Huron wants to put some on the table for the family breakfast, she'll pay 45 and 52 for the same sizes. Lemons were about two and a half cents apiece, now the're over four. The 1939 housewife could have hubby carry home a 24-pound bag of flour for 45 cents but the modern woman will have to settle for $1.34. Dates (fruit variety) have jumped from six cents per pound to 18; beans from 3 to 14. And its expensive for Mrs. South Huron to serve tea' to her neighbours this afternoon, compared to 1939.She paid 39 cents a pound then. Now she's got to hand the clerk a dollar bill and four brown coppers. Coffee is worse. It's jumped from 25 cents to $1.02 a pound. But our husband, Mr. South Huron isn't getting along any easier either. His flannel work shirt sold for 99 cents in one of the local stores in 1939. Now he's paying $2.95 Forhis Sunday shirt, he might have splurged $2.00 for one of the best in 1939. Today he can pick one out of a wide variety from $4.00 to $6.00. The stores offered ties for 39 cents before World War II. Their "extra-specials" were one dollar.The splashiest cravats today are $2.50 but you can get one for a dollar if you don't mind wearing one that's been in stock for a few years. Meanwhile, the lady shopped for a house dress in 1939 and paid a dollar for a "pretty" one. But the "pretty" ones today cost $3.00 more, Her silk hosiery has jumped from 69 cents to $1.50; prints and broadcloths from 20 to 55 cents; flannelette blankets from $2.19 to $6.95. We could talk about coal and furniture, cars and rents, but we think you've had enough by now. Here's a consolation: Your news paper had eight pages in 1939 and sold for five cents. Now, there are 12 pages of news and the price has only risen one penny. There's a bargain!