Now and Then: The Prices of Everyday Items – Part Two

 

 

Now and Then: The Prices of Everyday Items – Part Two

Thank you for joining me for the second installment of the prices of everyday items.

I recently researched dentists for my latest book as a new dentist is set to arrive in Horizon, Idaho. According to Authority Dental, the average cost of a typical tooth extraction in 2024 is $200. If surgery is required, that amount jumps to $300. If you’re looking for new teeth, the cost, per tooth according to Forbes Health is $3,000-$4,500. Need a mouthful? Plan on taking out a loan for the $60,000-$90,000 cost.

Travel back in time for some drastically different amounts:

Sutherland, Ray, and Keith, who tout themselves as the “painless dentists” are offering teeth for $8. Gold fillings are only $1.50 in the year 1887. Dr. Hurd in St. Paul will extract your teeth “without pain”. What’s more, your new teeth are “made the same day teeth are extracted”, so you’ll always be able to chew your food. He will even clean your teeth for free.

 

 

If neither Sutherland, Ray, and Keith nor Dr. Hurd are to your liking, Dr. Frank L. Ryder in Connecticut does his best to avoid extraction, but if you do need a new set of teeth, he charges $5 or $8 for the best quality with a three-year warranty. Extraction is only 25 cents. He also offers silver fillings starting at 75 cents and gold fillings starting at $1 in 1892.

During my research, I’ve noticed that cures are often offered as a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Case in point, Mr. Horne’s Electric Belt, “Positively cures rheumatism, neuralgia, liver, kidney and exhausting nervous disease”. Discounted at half off and on sale for $5 and up.

If you are suffering from constipation, Smith’s Medicated Prunes will help. It’s only 50 cents a jar in 1880, and “all druggists sell them”. In addition, they are touted by “leading physicians”.

Dr. Baxter’s Mandrake Bitters will purify your blood for only 25 cents a bottle, also in 1880.

Ely’s cream balm will provide relief for hay fever, headaches, and head colds, and it even promises to give relief to deafness. It’s also, “Free from injurious drugs and offensive odors” and is “applied into each nostril”. In 1887, you can purchase this fine medicine for 50 cents.

If you suffer from dandruff and other “diseases of the scalp”, Stedge’s “tonic for the hair” is available for only 50 cents a bottle in 1881. According to D.V. Stedge, his product, “Stops the hair from falling out; invigorates the hair nerves…and gives it a beautiful and healthy gloss that cannot be obtained without its use”. Even in the late 1800s, marketing was key!

 

 

Speaking of hair, curlers were on sale for 5 cents, a reduction from the regular price of 15 cents.

Finally, in 1891, the People’s Mammoth Installment Company in Omaha offered multiple items at incredible sales including the following:

·         Baby carriages, regularly priced $4-$30, now on sale for $1.90-$16

·         Clocks (regularly priced $2.50) now on sale for $1.25                       

·         Ice boxes (regularly priced $17) on sale for $11.50

·         Rocking chairs usually priced at $2.75 on sale for $1.25

They offer special terms, for instance, if you purchase $15 worth of items, you’ll pay “$1 per week or $4 per month”. If you go on a shopping spree and your total comes to $200, you’ll pay “$5 per week or $20 per month”.

Until next time, thank you for joining me for another segment. Have a wonderful week!

 

 

 

Penny Zeller is known for her heartfelt stories of faith, love, and humor and her passion to impact lives for Christ through fiction. While she has had a love for writing since childhood, she began her adult writing career penning articles for national and regional publications on a wide variety of topics. Today, Penny is a multi-published author of over two dozen books. She is also a fitness instructor, loves the outdoors, and is a flower gardening addict. She resides with her husband and two daughters in small-town America and loves to connect with her readers at www.pennyzeller.com.

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