Back In The Day

 

     I keep seeing all these post about the cost of things back in the "good old days", back when I was a kid in the 1950's and 60's. So I thought I might let the reader know just what it cost to be a kid "way back then".

     Let me start off by saying that comparing any time periods against another you have to allow for inflation to get a good picture, at least that is the first thing that analyst say. I say that you had to have lived back then and now to realize the true comparison. Pay checks may be bigger now than then but from my experience the quality of life was better then than now but that's just my opinion.

     The average income in the 1950's was around $3500.00 and usually only the man of the house worked, in comparison, the average income in Georgia in 2023 is around $59,000 but usually both adults work so that number could double. The average home price in the 1950's was $12,000 compared to around $300,000 today and for that price you get about the same size home.

     Alot of little things that most of us never think too much about need to be considered. That $2.50 candy bar you buy today cost a nickel back then and it was bigger. Dad paid about 15 to 20 cents for a gallon of gas, today it's cost has settled down to about $3.60 per gallon and not long ago it was over $4.00 per gallon. Kay and I stopped at Burger King the other day and got two Whopper meals for $20.00, back then two could eat lunch for a dollar, coffee was a nickel a cup with free refills, big tippers paid out maybe twenty cents. Haircuts in the late 1950's were fifty cents, $20.00+ today. Movie tickets were 25 cents, today they can cost as much as $10.00+.

     I can go on and on comparing prices but, to me, the real comparison is the quality of life. I think life was better then although we didn't have all of the technology that you kids have today. We had three channels on our 18 inch black and white TV and they quit broadcasting at midnight and didn't come back on till around six the next morning, We occupied ourselves playing games with friends in the great outdoors, indoors if it rained or snowed. We road bikes, went fishing, laid on the grass and watched shooting stars at night. Our parents cared enough for us that we had to ask permission to do some things or go somewhere, they told us what to do, we never once thought of talking back to them. We weren't worried about being shot, beaten up or kidnapped. We went to sleep without locking our doors or cars. A lot of people lived their lives without going more than fifty miles from home, most employees worked twenty plus years at the same company and were proud of it.

     Today you can live your life without ever leaving the confines of home, all you need is a telephone (smart phone), I guess if you are a hermit this would be perfect for you.

     Crime is up, inflation is up, people are easily offended and ready to fight or even shoot you at the drop of a hat, it is said this is the new lifestyle, get used to it, well, maybe it is. 

     I remember my parents complaining about the world I was growing up in but I couldn't wait to get out in it, I hope you feel the same about your future.