PRICES HAVE CHANGED SINCE GOOD OLD DAYS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 63, 30 June 1950, Page 5

PRICES HAVE CHANGED SINCE GOOD OLD DAYS

Remember the good old days when everything was cheaper and edible fruit could be purchased at a price that did not dig a hole in the pocket? Gome learned men advise never to look back but a glance through pre-war issues of an old Whakatane newspaper brings to light some interesting details on how far prices have progressed today. In March 1936 apples were being sold at 51bs for Is, oranges six for Is and onions 61bs for Is. Bananas were to be had at 31bs for the odd shilling. It only costs two bob to send a sheep* to Auckland by *sea. Cheap Sewing Machine

But those were not all. A portable reversible electric sewmg machine, guaranteed for 20 years, was on the market at £l6 16s. A similar machine was exhibited at the Whakatane Winter Show last week at £3B—and the price was going up. In any case delivery was uncertain. And then to “the last days of a great sale ending on Saturday.” You could work on Saturday then ■ —if you wanted to. At this sale with “bargains in every department” “ladys” hats were being given away, that is, if you pup> chased one costing from ’s lid to 4s lid, you got the opportunity of taking another hat of v,>ur own selection for nothing. Illustrations of the hats being offered show why they were being given x vay. This portion of the sale was very popular with husbands. But, even in 1936, prices were a good deal higher than they should have been, or so thought the suffering purchasing public of the day. Advertisements of an even earlier paper show why. On Ja. uary 4, 1904, <£ The Post” of Taihape, advertised nine bottles of beer, one large bottle of “best old mountain dew” whisky, a bottle of brandy and constantia or port wine, for only 20s the lot. Think of it, whisky and brandy selling for under a quid. But, at that time it was possible to buy a “special all-wool gents’ tweed suit” for a pound, children’s white gloves at 42-d. a pair, boys’ tweed knicker trousers at 3s lid and “Ladies’ Corsets” at 2s lid a pair. When a man buys a suit today he thinks twice before taking the final step but in 1904 ready made suits went from 25s 6d to £3. Made to measure suits from £3 to £3 15s. Ham—Bd a lb. Now, just a few items in the food line. Pineapple, 2£lb tins were retailing at the unheard-of price of 7d. Apricots and peaches were a little popular so they sold at Bd. It was easy to obtain good old handcured ham and bacon. Ham was 8d a lb and 7-gd bought a sile of bacon. Matches were three dozen for a shilling, apricots 9d a lb and sage and tapioca, being in good supply 71bs for Is.

The most expensive haircut had been a shilling but it was, being reduced to 6d.

Those were just a few of the prices in 1904, when a large new six-roomed house on a acre section with all conveniences sold for £440.

Yes, times have changed. It is no wonder we are told not to look back. To top this revision of prices newspapers then cost a penny.