240808 The Once Mighty Dollar

A dollar isn’t what it used to be worth.

First, a dollar was originally a silver certificate. That meant you could go to the treasury and collect real silver for that paper dollar. That changed in the seventies, now it is only a piece of paper and a promise.

Here is what a dollar could buy back in 1962.
A pound of good coffee was 33 cents.
Gas for a car was 26 cents a gallon.
A milkshake was 20 cents.
Six ounce bottle of Coca-Cola was 5 cents
A 12 ounce was 10 cents.
A White Castle hamburger was 5 cents.
A comic book was 10 cents.
Ben Franklin stores were a five and dime store. Everything in the store cost either 5 or 10 cents and there were good products available.
A pack of cigarettes was 20 cents. I didn’t smoke, but my mom sent me to the corner store every day to get her a pack of Chesterfield cigarettes.

Later in early 1964, We bought our 14 karat gold rings at the navy exchange for $7 for her and $9 for mine (there were no tax or excise taxes on jewelry bought on base or aboard ship.) Aboard ship it was $1 a carton for any brand of cigarettes. Our first apartment was $40 a month. Later that year I paid $75 on Guam for a diamond ring for Joyce. After I came home we went to a jewelry store in the USA and had the ring appraised. It was worth $500 here.
In the sixties we both worked for a dollar an hour. And that took care of our rent, groceries and everything we needed.

It’s clear that the almighty dollar is no longer mighty or even close to it.