"George,

Very interesting food comparison chart! Thanks. Some of us eat that stuff up.

Food qua food rather than specifics like "a Delmonico steak" is an exception to normal inflation rules because of changes in supply and importing, distribution, quality, productivity, expectation, and genuine
competition.

This becomes noticeable when comparing food with other daily expenses. For example, this comparison of costs in Charlottesville between 1961 and 2001.

(Editor's note: I have plugged these 1961 costs into an online CPI calculator to compare what they might cost according to inflation with what they actually cost now. The inflated price is in italics after the actual price.)

My 1961 rental cottage at The Riggory on Story Point Rd.
Monthly in 1961 = $75
2001 = $675

*$431.94

Gasoline
1961 $0.65/gallon
2001 $1.55 average

* $3.74

New plain car like a Plymouth
1961 $2,500
2001 $18,000+

*$14,397.99

UVa tuition was around $1,500 per semester then

*$ 8,638.80

A quality Eljo's Harris Tweed top coat, jacket, or suit
1961 $75
2001 $300+

*$ 431.94

A low-cost decent nutritious meal
1961 $3 at the Univ. cafeteria
1961 $3 for a steak at Arthur's Grill (University League store today)
2001 $3 at Wendy's

*$17.28

It's fascinating that a filling meal stayed where it was these 40 years by changing its content. That was not true of the 40 years before that, where a multi-course sit-down meal in town typically cost $1 or less in 1921.

The going wage in Charlottesville for low-end labor in 1961 (as I saw it) was $1/hr. That's what WCHV paid it's air staff when Bob Walker managed it, and me. It took 3 hours work to buy a $3 meal or 1/13 of a 40-hour week. A single person was broke and out of gas after eating 13 meals."

Rey Barry (electronic mail, Feb 28, 2001)