Food Cost Inflation

Don't know if anyone else here is a scifi fan, but I was reading a book of collected short stories by Robert Heinlein (with Asimov and Clarke, the members of the prime triumvirate of post-war scifi) and he explained how he was invalided out from the Navy in the late 1930s when he came down with TB.

He had a mortgage that needed paying and decided to do some writing to that end when he saw a writing contest with a prize of $50.

He explained that in 1939, $50 would have filled three station wagons with groceries, so it was a significant prize. He went on to say that when the current collection of stories I was reading was created, in 1980, he could carry $50 worth of groceries by himself.

Today, another 40 years later, one could probably pick up $50 worth on a single small bag. Wonder what it will be like in 2060.....

I graduated from college in '61, and got a job paying a whopping $550 a month. Bought a brand new Alfa Romeo Guilietta Spyder with the Weber carbs, for $3200. Now my Social Security is about $1800 a month, and it's a darned good thing I have savings.

The town I grew up in started a recycling center in 1971. It was open every Saturday and staffed by volunteers from the high school Ecology Club. In return for our help the town got us lunch vouchers good for up to $2.00 at the local Friendly's Ice Cream shop. With my $2 I could get a Big Beef hamburger, a small order of french fries, and a milk shake. With state meals tax that came to about $1.95.

-Paul W.

A slice of pizza, at a good slice shop, runs about $4 in NYC. When I was a kid, I remember pizza going from 50 cents to 75 cents. I don't recall whole pie prices but 8 slices per pie x 50 cents = $4.

Then there's the Pepsi Cola jingle from the 1930s:

Pepsi Cola hits the spot
Twelve full ounces, that's a lot
Twice as much for a nickel, too ....

My freshman year in college (1972-73) soda cans from the vending machine outside the computer center cost 20 cents. Everyone hoarded dimes and nickels because the machine wouldn't accept quarters if it ran out of nickels to give in change. Then the next year the price was raised to 25 cents. Suddenly everyone wanted quarters instead of dimes and nickels.

-Paul W.

I remember comic books costing 10 cents when I was a kid and being scandalized when they went up to 12 cents! Apparently they now sell for an average of $2.99.

Now if only my mother hadn't thrown out all those early comics I could have retired early!

From when I was a kid stuck in the back seat of our car on family vacations....

I remember gas at 25 cents/gallon at Sinclair stations. Dinosaur sign?
I remember 15 cent hamburgers. With beef.
I don't remember any wine prices. Not in my sphere of observation.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

When I was a kid, I remember pizza going from 50 cents to 75 cents.

You're a bit older than me. When I was a kid/teenager, slices hovered around $1. Which seemed like such a logical/natural price, because it was one dollar bill. Simple and clean. I suppose that could have been an economics lesson for me, as none of these prices are 'natural'.

And of course these days, paying electronically means the cleanliness of numbers is irrelevant!

And of course these days, paying electronically means the cleanliness of numbers is irrelevant!

Oh, yes, by all means, do allow me to separate you from your cash without having to look at the numbers too hard! Your card will take care of it, don't worry. Fees? There are some....

Yes, Sinclair Petroleum had the dinosaur logo. I, too, remember the 25 cent price during the "gas wars" that periodically broke out. And remember that these were the days when all gasoline was dispensed full-service by an attendant. This was also the age of giveaways such as beverage cups if you got a fill-up.

When McDonald's first arrived in Omaha, NB in the early 1960s, hamburgers were 15 cents and french fries 10 cents. The sign on the stores said "over 1 million sold".

-Paul W.

There is actually a McDonalds price index at https://www.eatthis.com/big-mac-cost/ where they list the prices over time.

For those too busy to look it up, the US prices were:

1970s = 65 cents
1980s = $1.60
1990s = $2.45
2000s = $2.39
2010s = $4.19
2020s = $4.95

Current Canadian price - $5.69 which is equivalent to US $ 4.69 Not sure why we get a deal - maybe it is made from Alberta beef.

Came across this - might be interesting:

Let's say you're opening a restaurant in New York, and you want to call one of your burgers the Big Mac. How well do you think that would work out for you? Now, if you were to open it in Spain? You'd be fine!

That's because McDonald's actually lost the trademark to the Big Mac in the European Union after a decision by the EU Intellectual Property Office (via Reuters), and this is how it happened.

The Guardian says that it was in the 1960s that Pat McDonagh was given the nickname "Supermac" during a football match in Ireland's County Westmeath. Later, McDonagh went on to open a massively successful burger chain, and he called it Supermac's. When he tried to open locations outside of Ireland, McDonald's claimed "Supermac" was too close to "Big Mac" and would lead to brand confusion. But the EUIPO ruled in favor of Supermac's, and it was a huge deal — it didn't just mean the Irish chain could expand into other countries in the EU, it also meant that the "Big Mac" trademark was void.

And that's huge, especially considering the number of McLawsuits McDonald's has previously filed and won. They even prevented a dentist from opening a practice called "McDental," and a Singapore coffee from getting the trademark "MACCOFFEE." Now, a different precedent has been set.

Read More: https://www.mashed.com/71291/untold-tru ... paign=clip

In US law, two organizations can use the same trademark as long as there is no confusion in the marketplace. There used to be a kitchen supply shop in Nashua, NH called McDonald's. This was not an infringement because nobody could possibly confuse them with the restaurant chain. Things get trickier when it comes to Internet domain names. It would have been interesting if the kitchen supply shop had gotten mcdonalds.com first....

Back when Apple Computer was founded and applied for their trademarks, they got into big legal trouble with The Beatles' Apple Corps, which complained that both the name and the apple logo were infringements. Apple Corps was on shaky ground since the two companies were in radically different businesses. The issue was settled by Apple Corps granting Apple Computer permission to use their proposed trademarks as long as Apple Computer stayed out of the music business. Things went well until Apple Computer introduced iTunes. Another settlement with Apple Corps had to be negotiated.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Understood re hamburgers and kitchen supplies, Paul, but no one would ever mistake a salami for a bottle of Hearty Burgundy, and that didn't stop the Gallo wine people from going after the sausage. Just sayin'....

I remember 14.9 cents/gallon for gas when I began driving. When I was a teacher in the mid-60s, a McD cheeseburger, fries, and a coke was 45 cents.

But fast forward to this Thanksgiving: we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Edie had the turkey plate $43; I had a ribeye for $59, and mashed potatoes and asparagus* at $13 each. The seafood tower (lobster, shrimp, ahi tuna) was $77.50. We ate the leftover seafood today. And the steak was the most tender I've ever eaten. After all the food and booze I ate for 3-1/2 hours on Thursday, I was semi-comatose until the next day.

The only thing I'd advise not to order.

Understood re hamburgers and kitchen supplies, Paul, but no one would ever mistake a salami for a bottle of Hearty Burgundy, and that didn't stop the Gallo wine people from going after the sausage. Just sayin'....

One of the aspects of US trademark law is that, once a trademark is granted, it has to be defended. If a trademark holder knows about an infringer and does not object, they have implicitly granted a license to the infringer for use of the trademark. That's why the Gallo folks send a warning to anyone and everyone who might possible be infringing.

In the salami case, I'd think Gallo would be on pretty shaky ground if they filed an official complaint. Gallo also went after the Chianti League over their Gallo Nero logo on wines marketed in the US. Gallo was on a bit stronger ground there since the product involved was wine. But even so, the black rooster logo doesn't resemble anything that Gallo uses in its marketing. Furthermore, the Italian words "gallo nero" never appear on the bottle--just the picture of the black rooster. If an official complaint were filed, Gallo would have a tough time demonstrating marketplace confusion. Furthermore, US trademarks are supposed to be adjectives and not commonplace words. This is why so many trademarks involve deliberate misspellings such as "brite" instead of "bright". Chianti League could have argued that "gallo" is merely Italian for rooster and thus can't be trademarked. Had Gallo complained officially, they would have run the risk of losing their entire trademark. Eventually Gallo and the Chianti League reached a settlement on the issue.

Microsoft's on pretty shaky ground, trademark-wise, for using common words such as "windows", "word", and "office" as trademarks. They seem somehow to have gotten them registered (circle-R) as opposed to their being unregistered (tm). Probably because nobody thought the legal battle worthwhile at the time. There were other graphical user interface systems out there, such as the X Window System (commonly known as XWindows) developed at MIT's Project Athena, that predate or were contemporary with the first release of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft and Apple had a bit legal scuffle at one point over the use of the trash can logo for deleting files. Neither party was on very solid legal ground since both companies had borrowed (one could say stolen) the whole idea of a multi-window GUI with a mouse as a pointing device from Xerox PARC in the first place.

-Paul W

Things get trickier when it comes to Internet domain names. It would have been interesting if the kitchen supply shop had gotten mcdonalds.com first....

A workmate of mine ran the American Association of Astronomers. He got his domain very early in the process. I can only imagine what he was offered to transfer control of aaa.com.

Microsoft's on pretty shaky ground, trademark-wise, for using common words such as "windows", "word", and "office" as trademarks. They seem somehow to have gotten them registered (circle-R) as opposed to their being unregistered (tm). Probably because nobody thought the legal battle worthwhile at the time. There were other graphical user interface systems out there, such as the X Window System (commonly known as XWindows) developed at MIT's Project Athena, that predate or were contemporary with the first release of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft and Apple had a bit legal scuffle at one point over the use of the trash can logo for deleting files. Neither party was on very solid legal ground since both companies had borrowed (one could say stolen) the whole idea of a multi-window GUI with a mouse as a pointing device from Xerox PARC in the first place.

"Stolen" is the correct term. I have used Xerox Alto computers in the past, the very first windowing system.

Do you recall when IBM first came out with the PS/2 computer that they tried to patent "/2" ? I believe they couldn't but they would send scary-looking letters on legal stationery to potential infringers. We referred to that as FUD -- fear, uncertainty, and doubt -- tools of the trade for 800-pound gorillas, right or wrong.

[Jenise]

Paul said:

In the salami case, I'd think Gallo would be on pretty shaky ground if they filed an official complaint.

They sued. And they won.

A workmate of mine ran the American Association of Astronomers. He got his domain very early in the process. I can only imagine what he was offered to transfer control of aaa.com.

One of my workmates had the initials C. C. C. and very early on got ccc.com. At one point he had the domain name stolen from the registrar via a social engineering scam. It took him about a month of wrangling to get it back.

Do you recall when IBM first came out with the PS/2 computer that they tried to patent "/2" ? I believe they couldn't but they would send scary-looking letters on legal stationery to potential infringers. We referred to that as FUD -- fear, uncertainty, and doubt -- tools of the trade for 800-pound gorillas, right or wrong.

I remember that. I think IBM did trademark PL/I (the programming language) and also PL/2 to PL/10. Nothing ever came of PL/2-10, and they had to relinquish the PL/I trademark to get the language made an ANSI standard.

So Gallo won the sausage case. Sigh. There's a county in East Texas where the district court looks very favorably on patent holders. Patent trolls always file their case in that district if they can. The district probably makes a lot of $$$ on court fees. There's probably a similar jurisdiction that favors trademark holders. If it isn't the same one as for patents.

-Paul W.

I remember comic books costing 10 cents when I was a kid and being scandalized when they went up to 12 cents! Apparently they now sell for an average of $2.99.

Now if only my mother hadn't thrown out all those early comics I could have retired early!

And they had 52 pages. We had a box a refrigerator came in that was filled with comics back to '40s and beyond. I can't look at a comic book catalogue nowadays. It makes me cry.