The "Buying Groceries Over 50 Years Ago" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Perusing one of my favorite Facebook pages, "Remember When in Lancaster."  Neat place to meet other residents of Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well as having a chance reunion with someone from the past.  

Topics vary from everything such as urban renewal to who makes the best chicken pot pie.  Every now and then I will ask for help with a topic I may want to write a story about and can't remember as much as I wish I could.  Within an hour or so I usually have the answers and help I was after.  The other day someone posted a series of advertisements that were from over 50 years ago.  I realize that many who read my stories are no where near that age, so I thought you may enjoy seeing what a jar of coffee or a box of saltines may have cost in 1966.  Check out the six pages of advertisements from our local newspaper in Lancaster and see what I had to pay for something to eat when I was in my early 20s and getting ready to marry the girl of my dreams!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Advertisement from the Sanitary Super Market.  Click on ads to enlarge.

Advertisement from the Surfine Food Stores.

Advertisement for the Acme Supermarkets.  I worked at the Acme for many years during high school and college.  I actually went to an Acme School in Philadelphia where they taught us how to run a cash register and how to pack a paper bag of groceries.  Two day school where they paid for our room and all meals.  I can't think of any store chain that does that today.

A coffee cup for 9 cents?  I realize you did have to spend $5 and that was quite a bit of money in 1966.  Thriftway Markets was another grocery line in Lancaster, PA.

Five ears of corn for 39 cents at IGA Grocery Store.  The IGA stood for Independent Grocery Alliance.

This advertisement is from a retail drug store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  They were in center city Lancaster at 1 East King Street.  For 25 cents you could buy a box of Q-Tips, box of alum. foil and even two light bulbs