Two of the most universal items traded were milk and eggs. Farmers would trade their excess for other products they needed. Trading often occurred between neighbors, especially if the nearest town was far away. However people paid for the items they needed, they definitely cost less than things do now. Here are some prices from the 1800's.
1847: At Fort John in Wyoming, sheeting, shirting, calico, and cotton cost $1. Antelope skins were 75¢ - $1. Buckskin $2 - $5.
1847: At Fort Hall, flour sold for $20 per 100 pound. That's a lot of biscuits!
1860: A 25 x 100-foot house near San Francisco sold for $800-$1000.
1860: The cost to send a half-ounce letter via Pony Express was $5.
1863: Turkeys sold for 25¢ and chickens 75¢ per dozen in Missouri. Butter was 9¢ per pound, coffee was 50¢, and sugar 16¢.
1863: The price of passage on a steamer from San Fransico to New York was $265, $185, and $135.
1864: Stage fare from Atchison, KS, to California cost $600.
1867: Buffalo Bill Cody received $500 per month to kill 12 buffalo per day along the Kansas Pacific railroad.
1869: Admission to a concert and festival in Lincoln, NE, cost 50¢.
1870: Cheese and rice were 5¢ per pound. Corn 40¢ per bushel. Molasses was 15¢. A basic saddle sold for $30.
1871: Strawberries in San Francisco cost 4-6¢ per pound.
1874: Doc Holliday charged $3 for extracting a tooth at his dental practice in Dallas.
1879: Cattle prices in Texas - yearlings cost $3-$5, and a full-grown beef was $8-$10.
1880: In Madison, NE, the price to delivery a baby was $10, plus $1 for the in-town doctor's visit.
1880: Pat Garrett earned $10 per day as a special deputy U.S. marshal.
1886: In Topeka, KS, butter was 20¢ a pound, eggs were 20¢ per dozen, coffee cost $1 for eight pounds.
1886: (This one is funny) In Topeka, KS, an anti-dude club fined men $5 for carrying a cane, $10 for wearing a plug hat and kid gloves, and $20 for parting his hair in the middle.
As you can see, for the most part, prices were far less than they are today. I hope you enjoyed this step back into the 1800's.
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This was cool! Thanks! I like the sound of your books, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kara!
DeleteThanks for posting. I'd like to know the equivalents in today's market. Some of the items sound cheap but if we knew what it compared to what people might earn it wouldn't seem such a good deal, I think. I was surprised at the cost of travel.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know that too, Connie, but I don't know where to find such info.
ReplyDelete