Cost of Living 1952 - in the Memphis, TN USA: When I was 17 in Memphis I like it better now.

old man 88 Loc: Palmview, TX when not on road

When I was 17 in Memphis

I like it better now.

(Download)

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Interesting. My late grandmother said you could get a loaf of bread for 5 cents during the Depression of the 1930s. And a Boot Recruit in the US military, at the beginning of WW2 made $22 per month.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I was 6 in 52. 1st grade. Think for a minute what life was like in 52. Most cars didn't have radios, power steering. power brakes, automatic transmissions and 70 mph was only possible down hill. Telephones, if you had one, was on a party line. Tv's not yet. Afair amount of the rural areas didnt have electricity. Much of what we take for granted today didn't exist in 1952

Joe Blow

I was recently visiting a high school outside a major city. On the walls near the sports trophy cases were plaques and photos honoring past graduating classes. This high school's couple of graduating classes were huge. After all it was a 3,000+ student school. The early 1950s had graduating classes of a half dozen. Then it dawned on me that 65 years ago, this was all farmland on what is now a large suburb. It took an Interstate highway to move the people to this corner of the universe.

Bartulius Loc: Bristol, Ct

In New Haven County, Ct. a movie ticket was 35 cents in 1958; I was too young to remember the 1952 price. If the daytime ticket seller was a retired person we could get 3 tickets for $1 and usually we returned the favor at a later date. A matinee on a hot summer day was the place to be; most theaters advertised "Air-Conditioned."

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I was 15 in 52'. Almost all cars had radios and most had automatic transmissions. By 52', TV was common. In 49', my dad had a 98 Olds. It went 100+ mph. In 52' practically all rural areas had electricity.

Perhaps you are thinking of another year?
Mark

boberic wrote:

I was 6 in 52. 1st grade. Think for a minute what life was like in 52. Most cars didn't have radios, power steering. power brakes, automatic transmissions and 70 mph was only possible down hill. Telephones, if you had one, was on a party line. Tv's not yet. Afair amount of the rural areas didnt have electricity. Much of what we take for granted today didn't exist in 1952

cdayton

So Harvard tuition was only $600/year. I entered the University of Chicago that year and tuition was $690/year - I overpaid!

Amielee Loc: Eastern Washington State

Mark, your right. In 1952 I was a Senior in high school. I had a 1929 Whippit that would only do 35 mph and had no radio but my dad’s car did have a radio and would do 70. Never tried it at 100. We did have a TV, black and white with a round face, but it was aTV. If I remember correctly we could get hamburger (on sale) for 3 lbs. for a dollar. Overjoy bread was 9 cents a loaf. And my mom who was an R.N. made a dollar an hour at the local hospital and thought it was good wages.

jgangjr

markngolf wrote:

I was 15 in 52'. Almost all cars had radios and most had automatic transmissions. By 52', TV was common. In 49', my dad had a 98 Olds. It went 100+ mph. In 52' practically all rural areas had electricity.

Perhaps you are thinking of another year?
Mark

I think part of it depended on where you lived. I am too young for the fifties, but I remember the late sixties and many people I knew, including us, did not have a TV. Many did not have a phone yet and party lines were still common for those who did. A lot of people still drove cars without radios, power steering or brakes. I also knew people that lived in areas without electricity or running water.

Things have changed so much in the last 100 years and are changing even faster today. The iPhone just celebrated their tenth anniversary, yet many today can not imagine life without their smart phone.

Adicus Loc: New Zealand

One old lady told me she used to be able to go shopping with a couple of bob ( Shilling )in her pocket and stock up enough for a weeks living and still have money left in her pocket when she got home but CCTV cameras put paid to that

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

GoldwingerTX wrote:

When I was 17 in Memphis

I like it better now.

Memphis is my hometown also. I'm sure you had your fill of Hostess items back then. My favorite was the orange cup cakes. I remember they sold for 10 cents in the late 50s. One day Hostess related that they had not had a price increase in several years and therefore increased the price of the cup cakes and other items like snowballs etc. to 15 cents! People were so put off by a 50% increase the sales plummeted. Within a few days the price was rolled back to 12 cents! If more consumers today would take a stand on issues like this, we wouldn't be paying 4.00 for a loaf of bread! Somewhere in the last fifty years we lost our guts! Now days the price is something like 1.69 for a pack.

Ed Greding Loc: Texas

In 1952 I was 12---in 7th grade. We had a TV---black & white, 16" screen I think. We could get only three channels; now the number is bewildering. But it all seemed so new, so futuristic. Prices seemed high, because we didn't have much money. I remember when movie entrance went from 5-cents to 10-cents for kids. And most of all, I remember that seeing the glory of a dark Texas night sky was easy---at least about 20 miles south of Dallas, out in the country where we lived. Just try today, with all these glaring lights.