Broom Hilda by Russell Myers for August 02, 2019

Ten years later it was still around 30¢.

Yes, but what were wages like?

25 cents in 1956 is $2.35 inflation adjusted to 2019.

Gas was still 25 cents in St. Louis in 1966, but a journeyman machinist was making $3.08 an hour.

You could buy an economy car new for less than $2000, but clerking in a retail store paid only $1.10 an hour.

You can kiss those days goodbye.

Gas prices are so manipulated…. like the stock market, someone sneezes and the prices go up and down.

as opposed to today’s (at least where I live) $2.39 a gallon…

A 1956 Plymouth is related to the 1956 DeSoto, and was just before they got crazy with the huge tailfins. I’d love to get one just to have one of these days…

You can see a 1956 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman in “Vertigo”, driven by the main character played by James Stewart… Now that would be really cool. ;-)

it’s delightful,

it’s de-wonderful,

it’s Desoto!……advertising jingle in 1956

ok, who sneezed?

25 cents a gallon sounds great, and 5-10 dollars would buy a week’s worth of groceries, but back then, everything was lower including the salaries. In ‘60, my mother built a house for $10,000. I’m living in it now but it would take over $200,000 to replace it. Unfortunately, incomes have no kept pace with costs.

I miss the 1950s.

That’s the same price it is now, with inflation

Wasn’t until 1973 that gas prices skyrocketed. Nothing like badly managed rationing to drive the price up. Of course the idiots that topped off every day didn’t help.

I remember 10

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, I remember local stations having “Gas Wars”, where they dropped their prices to beat the “other guy”. During one, and the lowest I have ever seen gas, it was 17¢ a gallon.

According to one on-line inflation calculator, Broomie’s 25¢ in today’s dollars would be about $6.50. So gas is cheaper now!

When I was a teen-ager, there were still gas wars – loved them! Prices ranged between .14-.17 then. We could use the loose change from our purses and happily drive Main for hours on Saturday night. It was also real gas instead of the ethanol blends of today.

and it had lead in it

You can still buy gas for 25¢, but it’ll fit in a thimble.

And wages were a dollar to a dollar and a half per hour. Nothing’s really changed.

I wonder if she calls her car Christine?

Those were the days, my friend! (We had a ’52 Studebaker, then a ’57 Chevy….)