1900 and 2000
The Price is Right
December 26, 1999, article one

I like Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He spends all day thinking up ways to keep inflation down.

Good. Everyone needs something useful to do. And Alan, he does an alright job, too.

But in spite of the best efforts of Federal Reserve Boards and men, prices have tended to do the up, up and away routine. Especially since 1900.

So the Fostoria Focus "Department Of Price and Economic Statistics" (DOPES) threw itself into rigorous historical analysis. (We like throwing ourselves. It's good exercise.) And here's what we found.

Ladies, are you mortified at the cost of women's clothes today? Well, you just went shopping at the wrong time.

In January 1900, the Kohn Store in downtown Fostoria was selling skirts (brocaded, mohair and plaid) for one dollar each. A comparable item today might run anywhere from $25-$75.

Fine cloth jackets ran $5. Today a spring coat might cost $60, a winter coat $120 and up.

Underskirts (slips) with deep flounces $1.50 and $2 values on sale for 98 cents. Such items in 2000 might run between $12 and $20.

(Psst! Hey, guys. A flounce is a strip of material, wider than a ruffle, gathered at one edge and attached as trimming on women's clothing. Geez, fellas, get on the ball.)

A one dollar pair of women's gloves today costs around $20.

Gentlemen shopping at James Crawford & Co. on South Main could buy a heavy fleeced shirt "value 50 cents for 29 cents. "I priced a lined shirt a few days ago at $19.99.

Okay men, when you need to put the proper hitches in your britches, you buy a belt. Crawford's had leather belts, regular 25 and 50 cents, on sale for a dime. I priced contemporary belts at $9.99.

Men's "Holeproof Sox" were 25 cents, 50 percent off. Typical men's dress sox today cost $4.99 for two pair.

(Incidentally, could people ecstatically happy with that 25 cent price be said to have experienced "they joy of sox?" Just asking.)

Crawford's sold more than clothes. A cake of soap went for one cent, a single penny. Today three 3.1 ounce bars of Ivory (99 and 44/100 percent pure and it floats) sell for $1.19.

Life in 1900 could be stressful, just like today, and your stomach might get upset. Relief in the form of a bottle of Castoria was available for 39 cents.

Castoria was still around in the 1950's, I think. Anyhow, today a bottle of Mylanta costs $4.99.

The ad for Casteret's laxative informed me that "30 feet of intestines were packed" into my insides and that they needed to be kept "clean, in order and doing business."

That's more than I wanted to know about my duodenum and descending colon.

Nevertheless, Casteret's came in 10 cent, 15 cent and 25 cent containers. A regular box of Correctol tablets today is $5.19.

Mabery's in the Alcott Building (Park 'N Shop Lot downtown) was selling Ladies and Misses shoes for 75 cents on up to a dollar. Today a good pair of women's shoes starts around $35, men's around $50.

In 1900, Jell-O was "the new dessert." It came in four flavors -- lemon, strawberry, raspberry and orange. It cost a dime.

Jell-O still comes in those four flavors and quite a few others and is still under a buck, 79 cents.

This thoroughly unscientific cost analysis was undertaken by perusing assorted advertisements in various editions of the January 1900 Fostoria Daily Review-Dispatch.

Comparable modern prices? I obtained these while engaged in a paroxysm of Christmas shopping one day. I just stopped in several local businesses and scribbled some prices.

Special thanks are in order to the nice folks at Burger's Shoes and j. Miller who answered some questions.

And remember, these are only estimates. Actual prices may vary and are subject to change without notice. Just like inflation.

Taxes and title are extra. Batteries not included.

A tip of the hat as well to Alan Greenspan. Every article needs a lead.

Happy New Year, Focus readers.

Happy New Year to you, too, Al. Keep up the good work.