Comments made in the year 1955! That's only 53 years ago!

[halfdome, Danny]

Comments made in the year 1955! That's only 53 years ago!

'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's

going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.'

'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before
$2,000.00 will only buy a used one.'

'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack
is ridiculous.

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail
a letter?'

'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire
outside help at the store.'

'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost
29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.'


'Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to
stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long
as the girls.'

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let
Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every
new movie has either HELL of DAMN in it.'

'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man
on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they
call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas '

'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a
year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday

they'll be making more than the President.'

'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be
electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.'

'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women
are having to work to make ends meet.'

'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to
watch their kids so they can both work.'

'Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be
getting divorced at the drop of a hat.'

'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of
foreign business.' 'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the
Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are
electing the best people to congress.'

'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously
doubt they will ever catch on.'

'There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend, it costs
nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel.'

'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's
too rich for my blood.'

'If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.'

Know any friends who would get a kick out of these, pass this on! Be sure
and send it to your kids and grand kids too

[Cutterpup]

Somebody is a little off

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail
a letter?'

that increase was 1974. My dad worked for the Post office at that time.

It went to 4 cents in 1958

Dan

[Miriam C.]

And I paid 21 cents a gallon for gas in 1970.

[PaulC]

:lol: And I paid 21 cents a gallon for gas in 1970.

So that's where discounting started
Seriously, regardless of the time line, Danny makes a point with the changes we've seen in our lifetime.
Cheers
Paul

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Somebody is a little off

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail
a letter?'

that increase was 1974. My dad worked for the Post office at that time.

It went to 4 cents in 1958

Dan

I can remember going to the P.O. with my Mom to get "Paul Revere" stamps for $.03 in the early fifties.

"Day old" bread was the order of the day for her. She bought at least two loaves real cheap, and said "ya' can't eat them both at the same time so one of them will be "day old" tomorrow."

[Nitetimes]

There's something else I didn't realize until recently (don't ask, I don't know why) but we used to put an envelope with money for stamps in it in the mailbox with our out going mail and the mailman would put stamps on any that didn't have them and put the rest in the envelope. I was informed not long ago that they don't even carry stamps any more???

[Betsey]

'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

That's why my dad quit...cold turkey. It was right after I was born (child #2). He said he couldn't afford to smoke at that price ($.25) and there were more important things to spend his money on...like my brother and me.

[mwatters]

I dunno... That list has the distinct odor of Snopes material.

mkw

yup... here 'tis:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/trivia/1955comments.asp

[angib]

In Britain in the 1960s we 'decimalised' - going from 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound (yup, three levels of currency) to 100 'new pence' in a pound.

My sister must've been about 10 and recognised that cost comparisons weren't going to work, so she converted all costs to a currency of Mars Bars. Sure enough, things that cost 2 Mars Bars before decimalization cost about 2 Mars Bard afterwards. I bet you a gallon of gas in the 1950s costs about the same number of (standard) Mars Bars as it does today.

Interestingly, The Economist magazine uses a somewhat similar approach to measuring foreign currency exchange rates, called the Big Mac Index - based on the price of a Big Mac in each country converted to dollars. If you want a scare, a Big Mac costs $7.90 in Norway....

Andrew

[Betsey]

I dunno... That list has the distinct odor of Snopes material.

mkw

yup... here 'tis:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/trivia/1955comments.asp

That it turned up on Snopes is not surprising, however, it was the reason my dad quit smoking. Only it was 1961, not 1955. And my mother, who keeps records of all kinds of things, wrote it down in one of her many scrapbooks she kept and included the empty package from Dad's last pack...Camels.

Betsey

[Kurt (Indiana)]

There's something else I didn't realize until recently (don't ask, I don't know why) but we used to put an envelope with money for stamps in it in the mailbox with our out going mail and the mailman would put stamps on any that didn't have them and put the rest in the envelope. I was informed not long ago that they don't even carry stamps any more???

My Mom used to go one step further and she'd tape on the money where the stamp would eventually go. The mailman always put the stamp on without a problem.
I wonder what would have happened if the envelope (with the money taped on) went thru the cancellation machine

[halfdome, Danny]

I dunno... That list has the distinct odor of Snopes material.

mkw

yup... here 'tis:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/trivia/1955comments.asp

It appears I forgot to check it out but the fact remains, some of it rings of attitudes and price increases of today & yesteryear.

Quote: 'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost
29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.' .

Now we are faced with skyrocketing gas prices again and all the chicken Little's are running in circles. Unfortunately we will adjust to this too and life will go on. Danny

[caseydog]

Somebody is a little off

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail
a letter?'

that increase was 1974. My dad worked for the Post office at that time.

It went to 4 cents in 1958

Dan

And, NASA was formed in 1958, I believe.

There seem to be some inaccuracies in the OP, but the point still works. It's still a good post, Danny.

CD

[FireLion]

I worked at several gas stations in the 60's,and I remember the "Gas Wars". 19.9 per gallon was the order of the day plus we pumped your gas for you, we washed your windshield, checked your oil and radiator fluid, checked the air in the tires, and said "thank you" for your payment while you just sat in your car and sometimes even gave you a free dish or Green Stamps!!! Now, ya gotta do all that yourself and the clerk behind the bullet proof glass is mute.

[FireLion]

I worked at several gas stations in the 60's,and I remember the "Gas Wars". 19.9 per gallon was the order of the day plus we pumped your gas for you, we washed your windshield, checked your oil and radiator fluid, checked the air in the tires, and said "thank you" for your payment while you just sat in your car and sometimes even gave you a free dish or Green Stamps!!! Now, ya gotta do all that yourself and the clerk behind the bullet proof glass is mute.