My folks used to pay $45 per month for the MORTGAGE on a house which cost them $5,000 when they bought it! SOME Pluggers can remember when their monthly MORTGAGE payment was less than what it now costs to fill up the tank!
My first car was one of the ones featured in a Motor Trend article titled Ten Best Cars Under $2,000 - and that was the price for a new one! Gas stations used to offer freebies for buying more than $10 worth of gas, and the best I could manage while running on fumes was about half that.
The word “dollar” is derived from “Joachimsthaler”, which was a coin minted in Bohemia that became a de facto european standard. The name was shortened to “thaler” or “taler” and passed into English (via Dutch) as “dollar”.
In 1792, the US Congress defined the United States Dollar as a unit of weight equaling 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams) of pure silver. The value of the dollar was never officially defined in terms of a weight or quantity of gold. To this day (in United States Code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2), the value of a dollar is still defined in terms of silver. Gold Certificate currency is another thing all together, and was issued between 1882 and 1933.
Today’s dollar is worth four cents in 1910 dollars. It would cost $23.67 to buy what a dollar could in 1910.
EstrelitaH over 13 years ago
My folks used to pay $45 per month for the MORTGAGE on a house which cost them $5,000 when they bought it! SOME Pluggers can remember when their monthly MORTGAGE payment was less than what it now costs to fill up the tank!
EarlWash over 13 years ago
In my grandmother’s ‘27 Nash the 12 gallon tank could be filled for $2.
runar over 13 years ago
My first car was one of the ones featured in a Motor Trend article titled Ten Best Cars Under $2,000 - and that was the price for a new one! Gas stations used to offer freebies for buying more than $10 worth of gas, and the best I could manage while running on fumes was about half that.
runar over 13 years ago
The word “dollar” is derived from “Joachimsthaler”, which was a coin minted in Bohemia that became a de facto european standard. The name was shortened to “thaler” or “taler” and passed into English (via Dutch) as “dollar”.
In 1792, the US Congress defined the United States Dollar as a unit of weight equaling 371 4/16th grains (24.057 grams) of pure silver. The value of the dollar was never officially defined in terms of a weight or quantity of gold. To this day (in United States Code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2), the value of a dollar is still defined in terms of silver. Gold Certificate currency is another thing all together, and was issued between 1882 and 1933.
Today’s dollar is worth four cents in 1910 dollars. It would cost $23.67 to buy what a dollar could in 1910.
captainedd over 13 years ago
When I was a teenager, I couldn’t afford to fill up my tank. Thirty years later, and I STILL can’t afford to fill up my tank.
tedcoop over 13 years ago
Thanks, runar; it’s nice to have someone around who still knows what things are worth.
COWBOY7 over 13 years ago
It sure is sad to pay for gas anymore!